Your Guardian Devil
by Shadow-of-Sins
Summary: Pip, South Park's only orphaned British boy, is now 16 and is still in school. Nothing much has changed, until an old friend returns to South Park.
1. Chapter 1

The morning bell rang throughout the corridor and everyone in Room 28 all began to take their seats, all carefully organised in their friendship groups. Pip Pirrup sat alone at an empty table at the back of the classroom. Everyone else avoided having to sit at the same table as him, let alone beside him. When all the other spaces had ran out, those without a seat still managed to fit in with an extra chair or two per table and their friends spread out a bit so it wouldn't be too noticeable to their form tutor.

Pip exhaled silently. It would be like this in every single class this year, just as it was the year before. However, he wasn't worried about that. It's not that he hated his classmates, even after all they had put him through, but he was uninterested in them. They seemed dull to him, but he shrugged off the thought and rested his chin on his hand, gazing out a nearby window.

Suddenly, the irritating chatter of the classroom abruptly came to a stop. There were heavy footsteps trudging closer and closer, getting louder. Pip showed no interest, unlike the rest of the class, who had all turned their heads towards the door, watching and waiting. It wasn't until a tall dark figure entered the room that Pip turned his attention towards the source of disruption. There at the door, grinning at the display of fear before him stood the Son of the Devil.

'_Damien?_'

Pip's turquoise eyes were latched onto the cheeky red ones that scanned the room before finding Pip, still staring at Damien in awe. He strode over proudly, going straight for the lonely table in the corner, right where Pip sat. Everyone watched; half afraid, half relieved.

Damien pulled back the chair beside Pip and asked with a less arrogant grin, "Is this seat taken?"

Pip was surprised he even asked, as Damien was the type to take what he wanted without even asking. But at least he wasn't saying it in a mocking tone and so Pip assumed he wasn't being smart.

He hesitated briefly before answering him, "I dare say it is." He smiled up shyly at the handsome Dark Prince.

Damien managed a smile too, "Well it is now."

He dropped his bag down to the ground carelessly and plonked himself down on the seat. He stared at the petite blonde boy for a while as though he were studying him. Pip glanced up at him only to make eye contact and gingerly return to staring at his planner with a pink blush across his cheeks.

Damien didn't break his gaze and instead grew interested by Pip's reaction. He sat up in his chair and leaned in slightly, "Hey…" his low voice cooed.

Pip turned to him, only for their new form tutor to come scuffling in, her so-last-year pointed heels clattering against the floor.

"S-sorry I'm late class. I was held up in the office. Ok now let's get started, boys, girls…"

her old brown eyes met Damien and she seemed taken aback, "_things_…"

Her eyes trailed off of him and onto her desk, in which she searched frantically for her role-call.

Damien rested his arm on the head of his chair and leaned back, turning his head to Pip again, "Geeze… what an old bat."

Pip turned his head to see Damien a bit better, "Mrs Matthews? She can be a little bit…"

Damien cut him off, "Of a frustrated old hag?"

Pip paused and looked up at the clock above the white board at the very front of the room, "Yeah…" he continued without a care, "something like that."

The bell rang signalling the start of lessons. Mrs Matthews nearly jumped in her ugly pink cardigan, "Oh! Registration is over… but I still haven't-"

Everyone had already got up and started stampeding towards the door.

"We're all in, miss!" Stan Marsh shouted as he ran past.

The door burst open and everyone poured out, running left, right and centre down the halls. Pip however took his time and after throwing his small bag over his shoulder he found Damien was still standing there.

"Come on," he stated as he walked towards the door.

Pip followed, slightly bewildered.

"Where are you now?"

Pip took his neatly folded time-table out from his pocket, trying to concentrate and ignore the crimson eyes that were set on him.

"Umm…" he found his place on the sheet of paper, "English."

"Good," Damien merely answered, "So am I then. Come on, you can show me where it is."

Pip sorted through his locker carefully. It was the end of the day and it had been… interesting, to say the least. Damien had sat beside him in every lesson. Pip supposed it had been because there was no way Damien would have wanted to sit beside any of those other morons. Pip knew he was different and he hoped Damien knew that too.

There were still a few kids lingering around in the corridor. The droned chatter was to no interest of Pip's until he heard a name that latched him onto the conversation.

"What do you mean, dude?"

"Well I mean, why would he be here? Why would he have needed to come back?"

"I dunno… it's not all that important though, is it?"

"It's just kinda weird, is all. Plus the guy freaks me out."

Pip thought for a moment. Why _was _Damien here? Why come to attend their school now? Why in the middle of their GCSEs? Did he even complete 4th year in some sort of Hell school? The thought hadn't crossed Pip's mind until now. But whatever the reason, he was sure it was something simple. Just as simple as _anyone's_ reason to attend school, or start in a new school, or whatever. It was none of his business anyway and so he shrugged it off.

He looked around himself once more. There were fewer children in the corridor. Pip recognised just about all of the ones left and from years of experience, he decided it would be best for him to leave immediately before he got "held up." It wouldn't be a pleasant end to the first day back. He closed his puke green locker, locked it and took his leave, trying to avoid being noticed.


	2. Chapter 2

Pip and Damien sat together at their empty table in registration, waiting for the bell to ring. Damien had come in early today, which was a bit of a surprise to Pip, but he was glad he had his company this morning. Damien flicked carelessly through Pip's copy of Romeo and Juliet, the play they were studying for English.

"This is stupid," Damien blurted.

Pip turned to him, "What is?"

"_This!_" Damien hurled the book down on the desk and hunched back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest like a spoilt child.

Pip giggled, "No it's not. I think it's a wonderfully written piece of art about two star-crossed lovers whose ill fate unites-"

Damien cut him off with a rude, over dramatic groan, "_Yawn!_"

Pip shrugged his shoulders and picked up the play from the table.

He flicked through the pages until he found where Damien had left off and quoted, "If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready to stand, to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

He sighed with a dreamy gaze in his eyes, "Isn't that just the most romantic thing you have ever heard?"

Damien refrained himself from gagging and merely grunted, somewhat amused by the fact that Pip was such a hopeless romantic. He continued watching him as Pip kept reading with a soft smile on his face.

Clyde Donovan sat a few tables in front, watching Pip also, with a straw in hand.

"Hey Token," his companion turned to him, "think I can get Frenchy right in the eye?"

Token Black retaliated, "Don't even try it, dude."

"Why not? Are you goin' soft on me? What do you care for that blonde Brit anyhow?"

"Dude look who's sitting right beside him," Token answered, nodding towards a non-caring Damien.

"So?" Clyde shrugged, not even looking at Damien, "Not like he'll care."

"Dude you're a lousy shot! If you miss _then_ he'll care."

Clyde briefly thought of how well that would end, "Fine. You do it, Mr. I'm-a-better-shot-than-you."

"No way, dude! I'm not risking getting on the wrong side of _him!_"

"Fine," Clyde rested his head on his hand lazily, "we'll get the Brit when he's alone. At break."

Token nodded and finally the bell rang.

It wasn't the nicest day outside. The sun was tucked in beneath the clouds, sleeping the day away and there was a bitter coldness in the air. Most of the students had stayed inside and went ahead to their next classrooms, their lockers or met up with their friends. Pip on the other hand had always spent break-time outside. He preferred to get away from it all. He sat on a low, rough wall, looking ahead at the grey emptiness. He wondered where Damien had ran off too; he always did seem to disappear at break-time and so Pip was alone to enjoy what little scenery there was.

A small group of boys stood nearby, hiding against the brick corner of the school building. The boys were all bored and Clyde was by far the boredest.

"Ok, there's our target for the day," he stated, as though they had much other victims to torment when they were bored. He put a glove-clad hand into his burgundy jacket pocket to search for his straw and a piece of paper.

"What do you think you're doing, you fucking pussy?" Eric Cartman stepped over to Clyde.

"What are you talking about, fat ass?" he growled in his defence.

Eric grinned and his evil eyes sparkled. He bent down and picked a stray stone up from the ground, "You aren't a fucking kindergartener now, Clyde. These are the toys we play with now."

He held his hand out to him, offering him the stone. Clyde hesitated, gulping.

"Don't just stare at it!" Eric barked. Clyde was feeling nervous; hitting a British bastard with spit balls was one thing, but a rock? He suddenly became conscious, aware of the eight eyes resting on him; watching, observing. He gave in and swiped it from Eric's hand before he gave it a second thought. He looked towards Pip who sat so innocent and oblivious. There were whispers around him; "He won't do it."

"'Course he won't."

"_Pff!_ I would."

"Why isn't he doing anything?"

"'Cause he's a fucking pussy," Eric added.

Clyde became angry, irritated by the comments unwillingly jeering him into it, rather than just embarrassment. He pulled his arm over his head and behind his back, gripping the stone tight in his fist and with one fierce and sudden swing; he hurled it towards Pip, who had just turned his head to watch a soaring Robin to his right.

_Crack!_

The stone smacked hard against Pip's temple and he went down on his knees. Blood poured from his wound and he covered it with his hand as a pathetic attempt to make it stop. Long streams of tears flowed from his eyes in pain and he closed them tight in agony, whimpering like an abandoned puppy.

There was no sound of laughter or jest. Instead, everyone went silent. Even Eric Cartman, who would have laughed until he cried at any other time, was still, standing in awe, shocked that Clyde had actually done it. Not a word was exchanged between the group. Not even a whisper.

"_Pip!_"

A familiar voice yelled almost in horror and the boys heard a stampede of footsteps bellowing towards the damsel in distress. Damien sped as fast as he could to his injured friend and dropped to his knees before him.

"Holy shit!"

He placed his arm around him to prop him up and gently brushed Pip's hand away to inspect his wound. His wide eyes darted over the blood that swam down his face, trailing over his cheeks and dribbling down onto his navy blazer. The sweet smelling fluid consumed the wound completely so it was barely visible.

Damien gently rubbed his thumb over Pip's cheek, wiping away a gleaming tear, "Sssh… you're ok now."

Pip looked up at him with sparkling eyes and sniffed, trying to keep anymore tears from coming. Damien stroked his silky gold hair and Pip looked away from him with a light blush, trying to cover his face with his hand. He didn't want Damien to see him like this.

"Come on," Damien hushed to him, "we'll get that looked at."

Damien released his light hold on Pip's face, his arm still around his back and took him by his hand as he helped him up from the ground and began to lead him into the school and to the nurse's office.

Clyde still stood in terror alongside his friends, who all processed how much Damien seemed to care for his acquaintance. That was surely going to get on his nerves.

Token turned to his ill fated friend, as did all the others.

"You're in for it now."

The nurse's office was plain and clean, with depressing white walls and matching floor. Pip was surprised that it wasn't ruined by stains of red, because staying too long in this room was enough to make you go insane and start bashing your head off solid walls. He looked around at his surroundings. The nurses' desk was practically empty, with nothing but a white mug of coffee that stank up the room with a brown ring of liquid around the bottom, staining the table and some "Betch" magazine. There were two small beige armchairs tucked up against a wall that looked like they had never been sat on. Around the room hung two "inspirational" posters on each wall.

Pip cringed at the sick slogan sign facing him; "Are you a victim of domestic abuse? Well cheer up emo kid!" He shifted awkwardly on the bed he sat on, with a plastic covered mattress.

Damien stood leaning his back against a wall, next to some sort of ridiculous looking plastic tree. He watched Pip like a hawk with his arms folded. Pip hadn't noticed that Damien had been treating him as though he were on display at an art museum until he noticed the green bushy madness and then the strange alluring eyes next to it. Their eyes met; Pip returning the glance sheepishly.

Damien cleared his throat, "So…"

He stalked his way over to the bed and sat slowly down beside Pip, "How do you feel now?"

"Oh, very well Damien. I'm quite alright," Pip lied. There was still a surging pain throbbing through his head and Damien could tell from the way Pip bit his bottom lip to suppress the agony.

Damien shuffled closer to him and looked down at Pip's hands, which were clasped together tightly. Pip looked ahead at the clock above the dark blue door. Each tick of every second and each tock of every other second echoed through the room. There was a short silence.

Damien opened his mouth to start some small talk and edge into a little more, but halted and decided not to beat around the bush. He paused again, looking up at Pip, "Who did it?"

Pip blinked, "Pardon?"

"Who threw the rock at you?"

"I-I don't know. I didn't see anyone."

"No one at all?"

"No…"

Damien exhaled and looked around the room. His eyes fixed on another infamous poster promoting a breast cancer association. On it was a young woman with messy, tied back hair, standing with her hands covering her mouth and her cheeks, with tears in her eyes. To her left was a doctor looking gravely at her with a clip board in hand. At the bottom of the poster was the slogan; "Got milk?"

He gave it a disgusted look. Pip had grown anxious from the deadly silence.

"U-um… Damien? You know you don't have to stay here with me. I mean I am grateful and I do thank you, really I do."

Damien laughed like any normal teenager at his sincerity and naivety, "Oh yeah, because I'd _so_ rather spend my time in Maths doing _algebra!_"

"I think _I_ would," Pip answered awkwardly.

"You should stay here a little while longer. Or get sent home. Why don't you go home?"

"Oh there's no need for that, I'm perfectly fine."

"I'd go anyway. Who'd want to stay around here?"

"I wouldn't be able to, though. No one's going to be home."

"Can't you just go home anyway?"

"I don't think so. Besides, I'm perfectly fine. I'd just like to go back to class."

Damien raised a brow, "Well ok." He stood up and held his hand out to Pip, "Come on, then."

Pip took his hand and rose up from the bed, "Jolly good."

The bell rang and everyone in Pip's French class trampled through the door, screaming and shouting. Pip was alone in an instant, as even his teacher, Professor Crotte, couldn't wait to get out. Pip packed his bag neatly; his books placed in order of size and left the room quietly.

He made his way to his locker swiftly, leaving a few text books in the puke green, rusted box and taking out his heavy folder. He left as fast as he could, lightly touching the thin bandage wrapped around his head, adjusting it in place. He took the shortest path out, cautious not to run into anybody in particular.

Outside, Damien stood at the bottom of the stone steps that led out onto the school grounds. Pip's footsteps ringing through his ears gained his attention and he looked up at the beautiful blonde before him, "There you are!"

Pip stopped, "Oh, you waited for me," he stated, yet with slight questioning in his soft voice.

Damien shrugged, "Come on."

Pip skipped down the last of the steps so that he was level with the Dark Prince. Damien grabbed him by his wrist and pulled him along.

"W-wait," Pip protested, "where are we going?"

"Well _you're_ going home."

"You're walking me home?" Pip asked surprised.

"Something like that," Damien answered coolly as he continued to pull Pip along.

"Why?"

"You can't go home alone like _that!_ You could faint or be attacked again or something. I'm making sure you get home safely."

Pip smiled, but protested modestly all the same, "Really Damien, it's quite alright. I'm fine."

Damien ignored his pleas, still pulling him along behind him briskly. Pip picked up his pace so that he could keep up, struggling to keep his bag over his shoulder while carrying his folder, bulging with pages of notes and handouts from numerous classes.

Damien watched this display and stopped, "Here, let me."

He released Pip's wrist and slid his bag off over his shoulder, throwing it onto his own. Pip clutched onto his folder with his now free arm, "Oh, Damien you really don't have to."

"S'ok," Damien looked at the large burden in Pip's arms and extended his arm out to him, offering to take it.

"Oh no, that's alright. I'll carry this, but thank you very much."

They walked on side by side in silence. Pip smiled to himself, hugging his folder closer to his chest. He was being cared about for what seemed like the first time ever. Not to mention, he was being cared about by _Damien._ Pip thought about this for a moment and concluded that he was completely and utterly chuffed.

Damien had actually been enjoying their walk. It had lasted some time now and was strangely quiet. '_Probably because he lives further from the school than the rest of those fucking wastes,_' he thought to himself. '_Come to think of it, I don't think I've been in this part of South Park before._'

They came to the opening of a short section of a street of terraced houses that all looked exactly the same; small, basic brick houses with old crumbling chimneys and roofs with the odd broken or missing slate tile. They stretched on to a right angle turn, in which Damien assumed there were more houses.

Pip stopped Damien in his tracks, "Well, here we are."

He reached out with his hand. Damien held back hesitantly.

Pip just smiled widely at him, "Thank you so much Damien. I appreciate it terribly."

"Are you sure you don't want me to walk you all the way in?"

'_Actually… that would be rather nice,_' Pip thought to himself, but instead he shook his head.

"Oh no, I'll be fine. But I need to hurry; I have some chores to do."

He reached his hand out further, indicating to his bag. Damien pulled it from his shoulder and handed it to Pip who hung it around his own shoulder and hoisted his folder up into a better grip in his arms.

"Thanks again, Damien. Tally-ho!" Pip shouted behind him as he skipped off, managing a wave.

Damien didn't answer, but watched Pip as he got smaller and smaller until he turned and continued around the corner and was finally out of sight.


	3. Chapter 3

Mr Hitler's voice droned through the classroom like a dying slug, which was quite relevant to him as the man was probably near to ninety and took about fifteen minutes to get to class on a regular basis. Damien sat half dead and a brain cell had a stroke with every second that passed. He hated German class. It seemed to last forever and despite people passing notes, texting, doodling and just sitting there talking, no one enjoyed what might as well have been a free class.

"Repeat after me; Ihre haben einen riechenden Furz."

"Ihre haben einen riechenden Furz," the class echoed, like zombies chanting meaningless prayer in a church.

Damien held his face up with the palm of his fist, pouting, '_I bet Pip's French class is more exciting than this and I __**hate**__ the French._'

He began thinking about the cute little blonde and the nasty mark upon his head, '_Why the fuck would he let people get away with something like that?_ _Adorable little idiot._'

He thought about Pip's innocent and forgiving look that made his eyes shine. He shook his head, '_I just want to know-_'

"_Who_ hit Pip?"

Damien turned immediately to see Kenny McCormick, sitting next to Eric Cartman.

"Clyde."

"Clyde Donovan?"

"Do you _know_ any other Clyde?"

"Not one who's learned to put down the sling shot and pick up the gun."

"That's what I said."

Damien's eyes burned with rage, '_Donovan._'

"Ihre Scheiße verbrennt ein Loch in meinem Furtfest."

Damien came back to earth from his hellish anger and the class repeated like Pavlov's dogs. No one knew exactly what they were repeating anyway. The bell rang for break-time and Damien threw everything into his bag furiously, storming out of the room before Mr Hitler could even stop him to give the class their homework.

He tossed his bag beside his locker as he passed it, not even looking or paying attention as to where it landed. It made a loud bang as it smacked against the metal lockers and everyone stared, nervous and confused. He stopped when he came to the bathroom closest to Clyde's Spanish room and went inside. Butters Scotch looked up at him from the urinal stand, zipped his trousers up urgently and sped out past Damien.

Damien waited.

Suddenly, he saw Clyde's brown hair from the other side of the translucent window and heard his disgustingly nasal voice. He rammed the door open in an instant, grabbing Clyde by the collar and yanking him violently into the bathroom. Clyde yelped out as he stumbled in and Damien locked the door behind him.

Clyde straightened himself up and stood in fear, too afraid to ask Damien what his problem was. Damien stalked over to him, backing Clyde up against the wall. He grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer, their faces almost touching.

"Are you fucking proud of yourself?" Damien yelled at him, his sharp fangs showing.

"N-n-n-"

"Talk properly, you fucking stuttering _bitch!_"

Clyde said nothing, knowing he wouldn't be able to stop in his current position. Damien calmed down, satisfied with the display before him of Clyde twitching in fear.

"Not so tough now, are we?"

Clyde shook his head, holding back a quiet whimper.

"You thought you were pretty tough when you threw that rock at innocent little Pip," he stated.

Clyde shook his head again, disagreeing.

"Good. Then you aren't a complete idiot, because it _didn't _make you tough. When you want to hurt someone, you shouldn't have to rely on a weapon. You do it yourself."

There was a deadly pause.

"Like _this!_"

Damien plunged his other fist sharply into Clyde's gut, who cried out in agony, covering his stomach with his arms and sliding down to his knees.

Damien grinned, "It isn't nice, is it?"

Clyde shook his head vigorously, tears forming in his tightly shut eyes.

Damien pounded him in between his legs with a fierce kick, "Answer me!" he shouted.

Clyde almost screamed, "No! It's _not_ nice! Jesus _Christ_ I'm sorry!"

"Apologising to that bastard won't get you anywhere."

"I'm sorry Damien!"

"Good," he replied coolly, "now take your punishment like the man that you aren't."

Damien swung another heavy boot into his gut, causing Clyde to fall over onto his side, curled up defensively in a ball. Damien proceeded kicking him in the back and in the ribs, bending over slightly to punch at his head and his face and grab him by the shoulders to shake him, bashing him against the cold floor.

With each thud followed a scream of pain, over and over, which could be heard all throughout the hallway.

_Thump._

"Ah!"

_Thump._

"Aah!"

The brutal beating rendered Clyde helpless. It went on for several minutes. Clyde almost felt numb, but not numb enough. It seemed as though no one had heard, or no one had cared for, his pleas for help. He felt vulnerable, not to mention sore.

He felt like Pip.

The bell rang so loud in the bathroom that Clyde could no longer hear his own cries. Suddenly, the beatings came to a stop, yet he still found himself striving in pain.

Damien stood, "You're lucky."

Clyde opened one eye and looked up at the demon towering over him, still with clenched fists.

"I could have set you alight. Burned you, killed you. Or let you live mutated, like the _freak_ that you are," he paused, making sure Clyde was paying attention.

"_That_ was just a warning."

Clyde trembled at each word Damien spoke. He really _was_ lucky.

"Now stay the fuck away from me."

He moved closer, "and don't you _ever_ touch what's mine again."

He smirked cheekily, "I don't like to share, Clyde, and I _especially_ don't like my property to be damaged when I get it back."

Clyde nodded wearily.

Damien turned and left.

Clyde waited until the door clicked shut and he could no longer hear Damien's departing footsteps before he stood up shaking, struggling to keep his balance. He made his way carefully over to the sinks to splash some water over his face, his hands firmly placed on the counter to hold himself up.

He looked at the mirror in horror. His right eye was emerged in a dark purple bruise which faded to a brownish yellow at the edges. The lid was partially swollen and his nose was dripping with blood. His bottom lip had puffed out slightly and there was a thick cut down the side which had dyed his whole lip a deep red.

He slunk down to the ground, dreading to think of what the rest of his body was like.

'_Shit…_'

The cafeteria was bunged with boys and girls, all making a different uproar of noise at their own specifically organised tables. Pip and Damien sat together as per usual. They were the only ones at the entire table, but it didn't feel empty and they didn't feel alone.

Pip had brought his own packed lunch from home in a Union Jack lunchbox and nibbled away at his crumpets, with a Harry Potter flask of tea to wash it all down. Damien on the other hand just got a school dinner, though he hated it. He looked down at the dry mushy peas and watery mashed potato on his tray and pushed it away, resisting the urge to puke. His stomach growled like a starved dog and he looked over to Pip. Feeling the feasting eyes upon him, Pip looked up at him, worried by the hungry beast before him.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Damien?"

Damien grinned, "I'm _hungry._"

Pip suppressed a laugh, "So you're going to eat me?"

Damien nodded enthusiastically, licking his lips.

Pip pretended to be frightened, "Oh no, please don't eat me! Anything but that!"

Damien bared his large white teeth and took a pouncing stance, readying his claw like fingers. He looked like a lion on the prowl.

Pip giggled, "Here, you can share my shortbread with me, just please don't eat me."

Damien paused, "Well… ok. But if they aren't nice I'll have _you_ instead," he said with a smirk.

Pip covered the light blush on his cheeks with his hand and tried to shrug it off. Damien's fooling around always had that sort of effect on him. He pushed his lunchbox in between the two of them.

Damien picked out one piece of shortbread and dangled it in front of his face by his index finger and his thumb. The side facing him was scattered with tiny grains of sugar. He contemplated licking it, but didn't want to look like a dog in front of the very proper Pip. Instead, he held it at a right-angle and bit half of it off. It was pretty ok; nothing special, but not bad in the least.

Pip watched carefully, waiting until Damien had swallowed.

"Well? Do you like it?"

Damien shoved the rest of it in his mouth before answering, "Delicious," he said, his mouth full to the point that Pip could see the mushed, chewed up food in his mouth.

Pip giggled. Although it was disgusting, he found it amusing that Damien waited until his mouth was _full_ before opening it up to speak.

Damien swallowed the rest of it and eyed Pip's lunchbox, "Help yourself."

He looked up at Pip to make sure he wasn't hearing things. Pip nodded and in less than a second Damien practically dived at the pieces of shortbread, scoffing them down violently. Crumbs fell like snow onto the table but Damien didn't care, he continued to shove them in his mouth one by one.

Pip just shook his head, laughing to himself as he bit into another moist crumpet.

It had gone quiet for a while and Damien had come to his last piece of shortbread and decided to savour it. Suddenly the cafeteria doors burst open and in walked a battered and bruised Clyde. A hundred heads turned, including Pip's.

"Goodness gracious! What on earth happened to poor Clyde?"

Damien looked up slowly and his deadly eyes met Clyde's, which soon filled with fright. He sped off to the other side of the large hall to his friends.

Damien cleared his throat, "I think he just got himself caught up in a bad situation."

Pip looked at him curiously but Damien said nothing more.

Pip began to stand, "Perhaps I should go over and see if he's o-"

"No," Damien put his hand on Pip's, keeping him from getting up, "don't bother. He'll live."

Pip sat down slowly, "Well ok…"

His eyes were glued to the pale hand upon his own. He could feel the heat of his cheeks going red, but he didn't move his hand. He didn't want to.

Damien realised his hand was still there and pulled it back quickly, "S-sorry."

"T-that's quite alright…" Pip looked away and Damien was glad he did, because then he couldn't see the strange pink glow on his cheeks.

Clyde sat in complete and utter silence at his regular table. He didn't bother getting a lunch, he already felt sick without the school dinners having to do the job for him. His friends whispered blatantly around him, but Clyde paid no need. After a brief pause of eyes falling on him from all directions, Jimmy Vulmer spoke up.

"G-g-g-g-gee C-Clyde, what ha-appened?"

"We _know_ what happened to him, dumb ass!" Token barked.

"What? You all _knew_ and you didn't try to help me!"

"Dude… come on."

"Come on what? You left me to be beat to a fucking pulp! You might as well have left me to _die!_"

"Now hold on a second, let's not get over dramatic here."

"Over dramatic?" Clyde raised his voice, attracting some unwanted attention, "You're telling _me_ I'm being over dramatic? He could have _killed_ me! Burned me!"

"Well he didn't, did he?" Token responded calmly, trying not to make a scene, something Clyde was already doing.

"You know what, fuck this. In fact, fuck _you_ Token! Some fucking friend you turned out to be when you don't even give a shit about what happens to me. You're a coward!" Clyde slammed his fists off of the table and stormed out, or rather, limped out, in a rage.

"J-J-J-J-Jesus Ch-Christ."

"What the fuck! What does that dickhead expect me to do? I wasn't going to get involved with Damien," Token glanced around him cautiously in case anyone was listening in. It seemed to be safe, "Besides… it was hardly my fault. He should be blaming Cartman."

"W-w-weh… w-well… i-if you ask me T-To-"

"Aw fuck you, Jimmy. I'm not in the mood for this."

Token got up, took his tray and left.

"J-Jesus… what an a-asshole."


	4. Chapter 4

Pip sat alone at the small wooden desk in his bedroom, working on his Chemistry homework. The room looked bare, but to Pip he had everything he needed, maybe even more. Apart from his desk and chair, he had a wardrobe, a bedside table and of course his bed. The walls were pale blue and the floor was wooden. There were very little accessories, apart from the blue ceramic table lamp next to his bed, which gave off a dim light, two rows of wooden book shelves and a clear glass vase filled with blue carnations, hidden behind closed curtains.

It was eerily quiet and Pip was home alone and had been for a while now. However, he was very much used to it and kept himself busy doing whatever there was to be done. He had finished his chores for the day, washed out his wound and finished most of his homework. He now planned to finish the rest of it and read for the rest of the night, but he was feeling strangely distracted.

He set his pencil down and sighed, he just couldn't concentrate on the molecular structure of Sodium Carbonate. All that was on his mind lately was Damien. Pip was actually glad that someone had thrown a rock at him only yesterday. Despite the pain, the embarrassment and the gaping wound, he wouldn't hesitate to thank whoever did it, no matter what their intention was. All that mattered was that Damien had shown some concern for him, it was almost as though he was worried about him.

Pip stood up from his small creaking seat and made his way over to the bed. Deciding that there was no way he'd be able to clear his head and finish his homework, he threw himself down on the neatly made bed and lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

The smile on his face grew as he thought about how Damien stroked his cheek and took his hand. It gave him a tingly feeling in the pit of his stomach and he turned on his side, grabbing a naked pillow and squeezing it tight against him. He giggled at the fuzzy feeling he was experiencing like a giddy school girl in love.

Pip snuggled his blissful face into the warmth of the pillow as if it were the warmth of Damien's chest. He closed his eyes with a relaxing sigh, not letting the thought of the sexy demon leave his mind. Hugging the pillow closer against his body, he imagined that it was Damien; although he'd much rather have Damien be the one holding him.

He buried his head further into the fluffy pillow. He couldn't care less about his homework at the minute, he was happy. He wasn't going to let anything spoil the moment.

In a trance of content, he muttered softly to himself.

"Damien…"

Damien woke up violently from his evening nap to the rhythmic thumping coming from down the hall. He turned on his side and pulled his pillow over his ears, holding down firmly to block out any unpleasant noises. Unfortunately, it did no good and he sat up, throwing the pillow across the room. It hit the mirror of his dresser and bumped into various objects scattered messily across it, knocking them down onto the ground. Along with them came a glass of Pepsi, which spilled over the dark red carpeting.

"Fuck sake," Damien growled through gritted teeth.

With a groan, he leaned back against the headboard of his bed, tilting his head back. The back of his neck felt sticky with cold sweat and he rubbed at it with a sigh. He tried to think about what he had dreamt about, but all he could remember was that it was terrifying. Normally, he didn't scare easily and it wouldn't have bothered him, but this was a different type of scary. In a way, he was glad he couldn't remember or else it would hex him for quite some time, but it would also wreck his mind trying to think of what had given him such a repugnant sleep.

Loud moans from his father's sensation came ringing through the walls and caused Damien to cringe.

'_Fucking pussy._'

He pulled himself up from his bed and walked casually out of the darkness of his room. He made his way downstairs, ignoring the erotic sounds that only got slightly quieter. He walked into the living room, noticing his father's silk black shirt lying limply over the sofa, along with God knows who else's t-shirt. It's not that Satan was a whore, it was just that Damien didn't _want_ to know who he'd been seeing for the past three months.

He made his way to the kitchen, opening the fridge decorated with coloured letters and a picture of a flaming bunny he painted when he was six and pulled out a half empty carton of milk, knocking it back like fine wine. He shuddered as some of it slid over his teeth and gave him a painful surge of gum freeze. Careful not to drop the carton and spill some more drinks, he placed it back in the fridge and headed back out into the living room.

He looked around him, contemplating sitting on the couch and seeing what was on TV, but decided that his father could come downstairs at anytime, half naked and with his lover. Instead, Damien went back up into his room and shut the door behind him. He made his way over to his overflowing CD rack and picked out his favourite Skillet CD, popping it into his black and silver CD player. He left it to play on Track 1 and spun the volume dial up as far as it could go.

He lay back on his bed with his arms tucked behind his head. Whispers In The Dark played so loudly that he couldn't even hear himself sigh as he closed his eyes. He didn't even realise that no matter how loud it blasted all over the house, it did nothing to disturb his father's bedroom play. He just let the lyrics echo through his head while he relaxed and avoided having to get up and do any homework.

The song had somehow made him think about Pip. It wasn't long into the song before he found it hard to get the image of the sweet young Brit out of his mind. He didn't try though; Pip was the only amiable thing he had to think about most of the time.

Damien's lips curled into a small smile and he didn't let the thought slip away.

It had been a long week and now that it had finally came to Friday the school was buzzing with impatience and hyperactive teenagers. There had been many rumours about what had happened to Clyde created within just a day since the incident, all pointing back to Damien, but not many people knew it had something to do with Pip; not even Pip himself.

He believed that Damien had done it to Clyde nonetheless; no other living thing could have. He just didn't understand _why_. He knew Damien would never hurt someone unless he felt that they deserved it, but Pip couldn't imagine what on earth Clyde could possibly have done to make Damien so mad. It just didn't seem possible. Nevertheless, he had never asked and left it at that.

Although it seemed now that this had given Eric Cartman a new agenda and despite his rival of a friend, Kyle Broflovski, demanding to know why the fat bastard walked around with such a cocky, plotting grin on his chubby face, he kept it to himself.

On the contrary, Eric had lost a significant amount of weight in the past seven years; Hitler always did want his master race to be fit, after all. But Eric would always be "that fat Nazi kid you don't wanna mess with." He _used_ to be "_the_ kid you don't wanna mess with," but since Damien had come back into the picture, that had all changed.

He sat beside Butters Scotch, or rather Butters sat beside him, in their History class. After a long lecture, they were told to get into small groups and "discuss their thoughts and feelings on the Holocaust." Everyone looked at Eric's gleaming eyes and backed away towards their friends. Butters, on the other hand, shimmied closer. Eric smiled at him and began talking about how Hitler was doing the world a favour. History was always the perfect class for him to express himself.

"They say it was awful, but they did nothing to stop it. They _knew_ and they pretended they didn't. Obviously, they _wanted_ them all to be killed (I mean who wouldn't) but didn't want to look like assholes; let the Nazis take care of everyone else's problem and take all the shit that came with it."

"W-well it wasn't very nice, was it?"

Eric laughed, "Never mind. But you know, Hitler really had something going on there with the whole Aryan race thing and all. You're kind of Aryan, y'know?"

"W-well I may have blonde hair and blue eyes, Eric, but I'm nothing perfect or anything like that," Butters fumbled his knuckles together.

Eric chuckled to himself and thought, '_Don't be stupid, Butters._'

Pip crammed a huge text book into his tiny locker, slamming it shut so it wouldn't fly back out at him. He turned, jumping to find Eric standing right in front of him. Pip backed up slightly before his back hit against his locker; he didn't like the menacing look in Eric's eyes.

"H-he-hello Eric. Nice day today, isn't it?"

Eric said nothing as he stepped closer towards Pip, who again tried to back away, but to no avail.

"U-uh… I really should be getting to class now," Pip looked around to see that they were alone.

He stepped to the side to try to get around the threatening wall before him, but it only mimicked his every move.

"Um…"

"Shut up," Eric grabbed Pip by the arm, causing him to drop his bag and let out a squeal. He pulled and pulled, trying to break free, but Eric just laughed and held on tighter. His fingers dug into Pip's arm and it was starting to really hurt. Pip cried out in mercy.

"Help!"

Immediately Eric let go of his arm, just as Pip put all of his strength into a forceful yank. He flew backwards, landing on the ground with a thump. He pulled himself back up in a scurry despite the sudden shock and grabbed his bag, glancing at Eric's ominous glare once more before speeding off down the hall.

Eric wasn't far behind as he ran after him.

"Get back here, you fucking fag!"

Pip sped up, his bag flailing about in all directions, hitting against his leg. It slowed him down, but Eric still hadn't caught up with him so he didn't give up, enduring the pain in his leg. He finally came to a staircase and sprinted up in a state of panic, still hearing the heavy, fast footsteps behind him.

Eric stopped at the bottom of the steps, watching Pip turn and start up the next set of stairs. He laughed to himself cruelly and walked off to his Maths class.

Pip burst into his Maths class, panting for breath. Everybody looked up at the sudden disruption, including their teacher.

"Philip, you're late."

"Y-yes I am. S-sorry sir, I… I felt a bit sick."

"Well don't let it happen again, now sit down."

Pip sat down trembling. Damien stared at him until Pip returned the look.

"And where were you?" Damien sounded annoyed.

Pip struggled to find the right wrong words, "I uh… well I was just in the um the toilets." It was so hard to lie to Damien.

"Don't lie to me Pip," his expression softened, "I was worried about you."

"N-no need to worry about me," Pip replied nervously, turning away to face the whiteboard.

Damien looked down at his simultaneous equations, '_If only it were that simple._'

Pip was hesitant to leave the room, but Damien practically forced him out. Eric Cartman was standing against the wall by the door and flashed Pip a grin. He backed into Damien who caught him by his shoulders.

"Hey, what's gotten into you?"

"N-nothing," Pip answered, trying desperately not to look at Eric.

Damien placed his arm around Pip's neck over his shoulder defensively, "Come on then," he said with a smile.

Pip kept looking over his shoulder at Eric, satisfied when they were significantly distant from him that he wasn't following them. Perhaps he was just in there for his next period.

Damien led Pip down the hall to their next class, ignoring all the people who stared. Kyle and Stan, who were among the crowd, giggled to themselves. They were a big part of the only few who thought it was cute. They were _probably_ the only ones who realised there was even more between them than a simple friendship.

Kyle nudged Stan as Pip and Damien were getting closer, "Go on then."

Stan and Kyle approached them together.

"Hey guys," Stan smiled.

"Hello Stan, hello Kyle."

Damien said nothing.

"So did you hear? I'm having a party at my place next week. My parents and sister are out of town."

"Yes I do believe I heard something about that."

"It should be fun. Do you guys wanna come?"

"You can bring a friend, though I know you two will go with each other, right?" Kyle added with a friendly smile.

Pip looked at Damien, "That would be nice. It's very kind of you to invite us."

"Can you come then?"

"Well I'm not too sure at the moment. I'll have to ask first, but if I'm allowed you'll see me there."

Damien pulled Pip closer to him possessively, his arm still placed over his shoulder, "I'm going if Pip is going."

"Great!"

Kyle held back a giggle, "I hope you guys can make it then. Let us know, ok?"

They walked off waving and Damien turned to Pip.

"So do you think they're…?"


	5. Chapter 5

The weekend dragged in for Damien, who had slumped around his house, all the while doing nothing. By Monday morning he had grown so eager to see Pip that he literally ran out to school, a piece of buttered toast hanging out of his mouth, in order to get there early. In fact he showed up so early that Pip hadn't even come in yet and so he slid down onto his seat with a pout.

'_Where's that little Brit when I miss him most?_'

The classroom was next to empty and Damien would probably think it was if a foul smell hadn't drifted up his nose. Kel Galway (previously known as Dog Poo) sat at the front of the room, staring up at the board. Damien felt like throwing up at the sight of his dripping wet, short stringy, tangled up hair.

'_Holy Hell,_' he thought, '_it's called shampoo. In fact scratch that, it's called __**water**__._'

A small group of friends walked in to the room, some of which who weren't even a part of Damien's form class.

Damien sighed, '_Still no sign…_'

Fifteen minutes passed and Damien was growing agitated.

'_Where the fuck is he?_'

He was just about to get up from his seat and go looking for him, even though the first bell had just rang, but before he started moving Pip shuffled in.

"Where the Hell were you?" Damien tried not to bark.

"I-I was in choir."

Damien paused, "Oh."

Pip blinked, "Are you angry with me?"

"No, not at all!"

Damien felt embarrassed that he had gotten so mad, but he had worried. He thought that something could have happened to Pip.

Pip smiled, "You didn't miss me, did you?"

"Sort of. I got in early so I was all alone for ages."

"Aww I'm sorry," Pip glomped him, causing their cheeks to rub together.

"S'ok," Damien didn't resist him, secretly enjoying the physical contact.

Pip released him and sat down in his chair, "So how was your weekend?"

"Boring, you're spending it with me next time."

"O-ok," Pip answered hesitantly. It wasn't that he didn't want to; it was just that Damien had demanded it more than he inquired it.

The day flew in, probably because Pip and Damien entertained each other so well. Pip drifted out of the school like a fluffy white cloud.

'_Oh what a spectacular day today was,_' he thought to himself as he gracefully skipped his way down the large stone steps.

He opened his eyes, blinded by cheer and halted immediately to see Eric waiting at the bottom for him. It was definitely a lot more flattering when it was Damien who had waited for him.

"O-oh," Pip thought intentionally aloud, "I think I may have forgotten my folder. I guess I should just…"

He turned to walk back into the school and leave again from the other exit, but a strong voice stopped him.

"Don't go anywhere."

Pip turned to look down at Eric.

"C'mere."

Pip moved back slightly, struggling to get his adrenaline to kick in.

"Get down here _now!_"

Pip tried to move, whether it be to obey Eric to keep him from getting angry or to run, but for some reason he couldn't. Eric was growing angry. He stormed up the steps and grabbed Pip by the arm. Pip covered his face with his hands and began to sob.

"Please, Eric, please don't hurt me!"

Eric grinned, he loved to hear people beg.

"Please! I've done nothing wrong, I won't tell anyone. Just please don't hurt me!"

Eric's expression softened into a frown, "Geeze…"

He released Pip's arm, who wrapped it around his body to keep it from being trapped again. He sniffed, the flow of clear tears coming to a stop.

"Sorry," Eric turned to the side.

Pip didn't know what to do, so after pausing for a few seconds he turned away from Eric and resumed his trip down the stairs.

Literally.

Just before his foot came in contact with the first step, two hands shoved him roughly forward and caused Pip to fall all the way down, barely touching a single step. He landed on his hands and knees on the hard ground.

There was an eruption of laughter that got fainter and fainter behind him. After a while of quivering and crying, Pip was sure that he was alone. He got up slowly, looking down to check the giant tear in his trousers, revealing a huge cut on his knee, covered in blood which seeped through the material and stained his black trousers. He went to stand up straight, but his knee hurt too much.

"Oh bloody Hell," he croaked between tears.

He looked around to find his bag wide open, his books scattered all across the ground. He bent down in agony to pick them up from the dirt and slid them back into his bag. He went to pick it up by the strap only to find that it was broken.

"Oh bugger."

He picked up the bag with his two badly scraped hands and held it in his arms as he stood up. Despite the throbbing pain in his knee, he hurried out before Eric could even think about coming back.

Damien waited by the main gate outside the school.

'_Geeze, what's taking him so long?_'

Pip walked out gradually, looking around for any danger that may have been lurking. He spotted Damien and cringed, straightening himself up quickly. Damien turned to him, pulling himself from against the wall.

"Pip!" he smiled.

Pip avoided Damien's eyes nervously, "H-hi Damien…"

Damien looked down at his ripped trousers and at the bloody mess beneath the hole. His expression faded.

"What happened?" he said as he stepped forward and knelt down before Pip to inspect the wound.

"U-umm…"

Damien poked it lightly with his finger and Pip sucked in air sharply though his tightly clenched teeth.

"Aw look, you've got some dirt and gravel in it."

Damien looked up at Pip like a puppy.

"So what happened again?"

"I-I uh… I f-fell."

Damien stood up and rubbed Pip's tear stained cheek with his thumb. He was in a bit of a state, but he was still God damn cute as Hell. Pip sniffed, managing a weak smile.

"Hey," Damien broke the silence, indicating to the broken bag in Pip's arms, "give it here."

Pip handed the bag to Damien who lifted it, revealing Pip's scabbed palms. Damien dropped the bag and took Pip's hands in his own, looking at the closely.

"That was some fall," he stated, trying to hide his sparked concern.

"Mmhmm," Pip nodded, "f-from the top of the stone steps."

"_Shit!_ You shouldn't be walking. Did you hit your head? Have you hurt anything else?"

Damien looked about frantically at Pip for anymore injuries.

"N-no, I'm fine."

"Alright," Damien brought his attention back to the bag he had dropped on the ground just a second ago, "give me a second."

He got down on his knees and began to tie the two pieces of the strap together in a tight knot. Pip just watched, wondering if Damien even believed him and if he had gotten away with it or not.

'_It's not really that I want to protect Eric, it's just… I don't want to see anyone get hurt._'

"Here you are," Damien stood, handing Pip the bag, but as Pip went to take it from him he pulled it back and threw it over his own shoulder.

"Try to be careful in future, ok? I don't want to see you get hurt again."

Pip wiped his cheek to make sure it was dry of any tears, "O-ok."

Damien grabbed Pip by the wrist with his free hand.

"Now come on," he said, leading Pip back into the school, "we need to get that cleaned up."

Pip sat on the counter of sinks in the boys' toilets with his trouser leg pulled up above his knee. Damien was on his knees in front of him, cleaning up the excess blood from Pip's skin with a wet piece of tissue. He dabbed carefully at the wound, trying to extract the small stones and pieces of dirt from it. Pip winced slightly at the light tickling touch of the tissue.

"Just one more second," Damien said, ruffling through his inside blazer pocket. He took out a packet of small thin plasters.

"Hmm…"

Pip watched as he peeled the back off of the plasters one after the other, placing them face down on Pip's thigh. After unmasking five of them, he began placing them onto the wound, three down and two across. Pip looked at the partially covered wound; some parts of the sticky undersides still touched the scab, so it'd probably hurt when he had to take them off.

"It'll do for now until we can get some Germolene on it," Damien held his hand out to Pip, who didn't hesitate to take it as he slid off the counter and onto his feet. Damien pulled the bag off of the counter beside where Pip had sat and threw it over his shoulder.

"Alright, all ready now?"

Pip nodded.

"Let's go then."

Damien and Pip left the bathroom together, hand in hand.

The pair walked along the cold, lonely streets of South Park. Pip smiled at the breeze blowing in his face that danced with his blonde hair. The pain in his knee hadn't faded but he was numb with joy. For the second time this year, he was glad someone had hurt him.

'_It seems to be turning into quite a routine,_' Pip thought to himself, '_I find some way to get myself into trouble and Damien… rescues me._'

Damien felt a pair of turquoise eyes gazing at him and turned to Pip.

"What?" he laughed.

Pip smiled and turned away, shaking his head, "Nothing."

Although both were very aware that they were still holding hands, neither of them drew attention to the fact that they were. It would probably only make things awkward, especially if one of them were to suddenly break the gentle contact.

Pip didn't mind it at all though, in fact he enjoyed every minute of it so much that he didn't even notice the blush on his own face. He was so consumed by his own bliss that he didn't even think to question why his friend was holding his hand in the first place.

Damien on the other hand had almost forgotten altogether about the small soft hand in his own until he looked down at the sight. A part of him felt pleased and comfortable and strangely not embarrassed in the least, but another part of him questioned what exactly this meant.

He shook his head, '_Nothing,_' he thought, '_This means nothing._'

But no matter what he tried to tell himself, he still didn't let go of Pip's hand. He didn't want to.

Pip halted suddenly, but Damien's mind was elsewhere and he continued to pull him along with him, not noticing Pip had tried to stop walking.

"U-uh Damien?"

"Huh?" Damien looked to his friend.

"We're here, I can go from here now."

Damien looked around him, they were in the same street that Damien had left Pip off in almost a week ago.

"Oh."

Pip began to pull his hand from Damien's, but it only caused him to hold onto it tighter.

"Wait, you can't go home like this. I was going to take you to my place to get you a proper plaster and some cream to put on your cut."

"But you brought us this way," Pip answered slightly confused.

Damien was dumbfounded, he didn't really _know_ what he had been doing for the past ten minutes. He wasn't thinking.

Pip smiled gratefully, "My knee feels much better now anyway."

Damien let go of Pip's hand in order to give him his bag, giving in, "Are you sure?"

Pip took the bag from him and hung it over his shoulder, "Yes indeed. Quite positive actually."

"I can walk you to the door, at least."

"That's quite alright," Pip smiled sweetly, "but thank you, Damien."

Pip leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. Damien froze and his cheeks turned bright red. Pip giggled gently, quite pleased with his bravery, not having a second thought about what he had just done.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Damien. Tootles!"

Pip skipped down the street and again turned the corner. Even when he was out of sight Damien still stood in awe, replaying in his mind what had just happened and wondering if it really _did_ happen.


	6. Chapter 6

Pip woke up before his alarm clock did. He winced in pain as he turned on his side; he had almost forgotten that it was best not to do that. His silk blonde locks were spread out across the pillow like sunrays and his body was partially covered in a thin bed sheet. Beneath it he wore a thin cotton vest and a very loose pair of lime green boxers, which was rare of him to wear in the first place. The house felt a whole lot warmer than normal. Pip sighed as he sat up and stretched his arms high above his head.

"Perhaps Janet turned the heat all the way up when she was drunk last night."

He left his room, closing the door quietly behind him and stealthily made his way down the hall towards the bathroom. He stripped down and stepped into the shower, shivering at the icy drops of water that hit his hot body, sticky with sweat, but he soon adjusted to it and found it cool and refreshing. He wiped the water around his smooth face and dunked his head under the showerhead. He shook his head vigorously to half-dry his hair and turned the hot water on so that he could wash it properly.

The gash on his knee has healed notably in the past two days and Eric hadn't harassed him since; waiting for the heat to die down on Damien before he struck again. Although little did Eric realise that someone else had beat him to it, let alone beat Pip.

After the suds, soap and conditioner had washed away, Pip stepped out of the shower, his petit body dripping wet and steamy. He walked over to the towel rack, avoiding eye contact with himself in the mirror. He loosely wrapped one long towel under his arms and threw a smaller one over his bare shoulders for his hair. He quickly dried his feet on the floor mat and scurried back into his room.

Outside was quiet, barely dominated by a faint sun that drifted aimlessly in the fresh morning sky. There was only small, thin patches of snow along the streets although the mountains in the far distance seemed a lot more occupied. The world was lazily awakening, but everyone else in the quiet little mountain town was fast asleep.

'_Even Damien,_' Pip thought to himself, '_is probably bundled up nice and cosy in his bed without a care in the world._'

And indeed he was, wearing only a pair of skin tight jeans he couldn't be bothered taking off from the night before and a belt that kept digging hard into his hip, but nothing could disturb him from this deep sleep. Not even his father's early morning shenanigans with his unknown partner in all their homosexual bliss could wake him from his slumber. Not even the sound of an air force jetfighter zooming out of control in the sky, almost breaking the sound barrier as it plunged into a park bench nose first, blowing up Kenny McCormick, who had previously been screaming and running frantically around in circles, could pull him out of the realism of the dream he was so contently engulfed in. All he could see was Pip, laid down upon a soft, cloud-like mattress, wearing nothing but a fluffy blanket that rested at a dangerous angle only slightly above his privates, showing off his slender physique and a smooth, curvaceous hip. Around them was a blue sky and Damien either didn't notice or didn't care that it strangely resembled Heaven.

Pip called out to him in a honey hushed voice, his eyes dreamily gazing on with heavy lids, "Damien…"

Damien found himself being drawn closer and closer to the innocently sexy boy laid out before him.

"Damien…"

Damien reached out eagerly to touch his face, stretching out his fingers as he couldn't control the force that was pulling him so slowly towards him. He tried to push himself closer still, his fingers only mere millimetres from the soft flesh that awaited his touch.

"Damien…!"

Suddenly, the whole world around them seemed to crash. The sky turned dark and the clouds disappeared. Pip seemed to get smaller and smaller until Damien could no longer see him, but realised that the distance between them had grown vastly and Pip was now lost in the darkness.

"Pip!" Damien called out in a panic.

He felt himself being pulled back forcefully and turned to find a small group of tiny devils digging their sharp claws into his clothes and flesh. More appeared beneath them and as Damien was pulled further into the larger group, they all latched onto him too and pulled him deeper into the pile that only seemed to grow larger with more and more pitchfork wielding, annoying devils appeared. Soon the dark sky became illuminated with orange blazing flames and boiling red magma. Damien tried to claw his way back up into the skies and find Pip, but it was no use. He called out hopelessly.

"Pip!"

Damien stirred in his bed desperately, sweating coldly and calling out again, holding onto his sheets tightly. His legs swung about in all directions and he kicked the mattress again and again as he tossed and turned.

It was strange however, because in reality his father's minions (especially the pathetic, useless, low class ones) had no power over Damien whatsoever and he wasn't afraid of Hell; it was his home in which he could come and go as he pleased. But for some reason, he was having a regular, Hell based, mortal dream. Some strange reason.

He woke up with a gasp, immediately jolting himself forward into a sitting position. He breathed heavily, sweat running down the back of his neck. He pulled his legs up from beneath the heat of his blanket and pulled them up against his chest, wrapping his arms around them tightly. He rested his chin on his knee as his breathing calmed and his heartbeat rested considerably. He let out a quiet sigh. He knew _exactly_ what the dream meant.

"Are you sure you're feeling ok, sweety?"

"I'm fine, dad," Damien rolled his eyes.

"But you look so unwell. Maybe you should take the day off."

"Well maybe you should go a bit easier on the sex life. I mean geeze, you should be in a wheelchair by now."

"Damien…" Satan reached out to place his hand on his son's shoulder but Damien pulled away.

"Forget it. God knows where that's been."

Damien grabbed his bag and his father just stood and watched, slightly embarrassed at his son's remark.

'_Well…_' Satan thought to himself, '_not God…_'

Damien left the living room in a hurry. As soon as Satan noticed, he called out to him.

"Have fun at school, baby!"

The front door slammed shut.

Satan sighed. No sooner did a tall figure appear behind him and wrap its arms around his waist, resting a chin on his shoulder to whisper soothingly into his ear.

"Don't worry about it too much, Lucifer."

Satan turned to return the embrace and snuggle against the pale, built chest. He sighed again, half content and half not.

"But this is so horrible. First your father and now Damien…"

"Well Damien doesn't even know exactly who you're seeing."

"Exactly! Imagine what he'll be like when he finds out. Oh, why can't anyone accept our love?"

"Ssh… I know."

The grip around Satan tightened and a soft kiss was placed on his forehead. He submitted himself entirely to the warmth and closed his eyes.

"I love you so much…"

Long fingers entwined themselves in the silky black strands of hair that fell gracefully from Satan's head.

"I love you too."

Pip looked at Damien again, who sat silently staring into space completely expressionless. He had been like this all day and Pip had initially tried to talk to him and cheer him up, but he had given up and decided that Damien would prefer to be left alone and he didn't need Pip. It killed Pip, not only because he had grown so used to the company and he had missed Damien's dependence of amusement from him, but he really didn't like that Damien was ignoring him.

'_Maybe it was the kiss… oh no! I knew I shouldn't have done that! What was I thinking? Well that's just perfect! There goes my only friendship. Goodness and now he'll know how I feel! Why didn't I think of that before?_'

Pip paused to notice Damien looking strangely at him with crossed arms. Pip blushed.

"What's wrong with you?" Damien asked coldly.

"N-nothing…" Pip looked shamefully down at his textbook. He pretended to read it to look busy.

'_Emily Dickinson? I thought this was History class…_'

Damien shook his head at the sight of the adorably confused boy. Every image of the dream seemed to flood back to him. How beautiful and desirable Pip had looked, how amazing Damien felt inside and how that had all went away when he was being pulled from him. It all felt so real, so real that the pain seemed to gush back to him. He tried to shrug it off, but a lot more than just shrugging was needed. Instead he looked down and shielded the side of his face with his hand.

Pip frowned at Damien's actions.

'_Did I really make him this way?_'

Suddenly the bell rang and it was the end of a painfully quiet day. Pip sat up from his chair and closed up all of his Physics books. He glanced over at Damien, who didn't seem to notice that the bell had gone and sat there idly.

"Damien?"

Damien turned to Pip lost and then to the students who began leaving the room at their own pace, lazy or hurriedly. He stood up casually and began throwing his books together slowly.

Pip watched, sliding his books into his brand new backpack.

"So… do you want to walk me home today? I mean, are you going to?"

Damien waited for a few seconds before he answered to give the illusion that he was thinking, although it may have been that he was so distracted that it took his mind a while to process what Pip had just said.

"Can't," he merely said.

Pip stood bewildered and feeling slightly rejected, "O-oh…"

Damien pulled his bag over his shoulder.

"Dad needs help with stuff," he lied, "See ya."

Damien walked straight past Pip and pushed the door open, leaving the room. The door swung back and shut with a slam. Their Physics teacher, Mr McLaughlin, looked up from the papers on his desk and smiled at the only pupil left in his classroom. He picked up a bundle of tests and stood up from his seat.

"Enjoy the rest of your day, Philip."

In a brief moment, Pip was alone. He bit the inside of his lip and his eyes welled up with tears.

Pip lay in darkness on his bed, curled up like an armadillo in danger and sobbing heavily into his pillow that he held onto desperately, his arms and legs wrapped firmly around it and his fingers digging into the soft mound. The dead silence made every little gasp and whimper seem even louder than what it was. His puffed red cheeks were stained with sticky, warm tears that had soaked his pillow and his eyes were red and covered in the glistening emotion-water. He sniffed again and again as a result of his overly runny nose and trembled at the sickening feeling he was experiencing.

The entire house felt empty and cold, but Pip wasn't alone this time. Although he was alone in just about every other case and as of recently Damien had wiped out any possibility of loneliness Pip had ever felt. Now he had given it all back and it hurt a whole lot more than it had in the first place. It didn't take Pip long to think back and realise that he had never cried or hurt so much in his life, even after all the beatings, the teasing, the name-calling and the rejection. He never even came close to crying this much before. It felt almost unbearable, in fact it was. Pip couldn't take it anymore, but he hardly had a choice. Story of his life, only on a whole new level.

He cried so hard that he almost screamed, so horribly that he couldn't even cry himself to sleep and so he lay there for the rest of the night. Just sobbing.


	7. Chapter 7

The changing room was filled with noise; boys laughing, slapping each other's asses with towels and talking about "having" their "girlfriends." Some even bragged about the size of their genitals, only rejecting the opportunity to compare it with their friends', calling it "gay."

Damien sat on a wooden bench in silence. He chose not to do PE today, so he had no need to get undressed and dressed, only to get undressed and dressed again. Instead he carefully monitored Pip's every move. After all, PE was a dangerous subject, in _and_ out of the actual lesson. However, Damien still hadn't said a word to him all day and nor did Pip. It was almost as though he was avoiding him.

He turned his head as Pip started to slip his thin white shirt over his smooth shoulders, careful not to watch when the rest of his clothes were removed. Pip was facing the wall anyway, so he wouldn't have noticed or thought that Damien was perving on him. He wouldn't anyway, unless he had Pip's mutual consent of course.

The chatty and obnoxious boys piled out of the cold, tiled room, followed by a lonesome Pip, who didn't even spare Damien a glance. When there wasn't another sound to be heard in the abandoned room, Damien slunk out after the boys and made his way gradually into the GYM.

"Alright _worms,_ front and centre!" the large Mr Euings shouted his demand for order.

The boys scurried around him, stopping straight and tall with their shoulders thrown back and their bodies thrusting outwards. Damien watched Pip, noticing how small he looked compared to the other boys.

"Thanks to the Board of Education," Mr Euings rolled his eyes, "boys are now required to do gymnastics. So for the next few weeks you're gonna have to forget everything I told you about being men, because now you're gonna have to be women."

Everyone looked at each other confused.

"_Now!_"

With that they all scattered around the GYM, towards beams and benches, mats and posters on the walls showing various suggestive looking poses and positions. The confusion didn't fade, however and Damien was more than interested to see what fun would come about this lesson.

Stan approached Mr Euings confidently.

"Uh… sir? What exactly are we supposed to be doing?"

"Do I look like a woman to you, Marsh? Now grab a partner and get to it!" he roared.

Stan saluted, "Yes sir!" and ran off to his friends.

Damien practically preyed on Pip, who began doing handstands on a single mat, away from all of the other boys. His white t-shirt fell slightly and showed off a part of his dainty stomach. His long, thin legs pushed themselves up in the air with grace and his soft blonde hair fell over his pretty face. Damien could do nothing but sit and admire the angelic boy before him.

Pip didn't notice that Damien was staring at him; he didn't notice Damien at all. He was too busy trying to look busy. He wanted to seem too occupied in stretching out his slim, flexible body and unintentionally put himself on display.

He wanted to hide the fact that he was so disturbed. Behind his clouded eyes were more tears, bored of sitting for so long. He wanted to exhaust himself to help mask the choking feeling in his throat that made his breathing loud, broken and desperate. The type of feeling that one gets after doing nothing but crying in pain.

The sound of sprinkling water began to come to a stop as the boys turned off the shower taps and strutted into the changing room, cocky and naked. Pip was taking his time, still not fully undressed and waiting until everyone else had left. Damien sat quietly, watching him. He was well hidden in the shadows.

A few more boys left the room, followed by another group. Soon, the last of them walked out casually and although Damien was very aware of it, he paid them no single glance. His eyes were fixed on Pip and grew wide with horror as they focused on his ribs while he pulled the white t-shirt over his head.

Damien stood up, his eyes still not shifting place. As Pip took his whole top off, Damien could see clearly the large, purple bruise spread up his side. Pip was still unknowing, however, of the attention he was getting, so he continued to fold his top neatly and place it into his bag.

Damien made his way hastily towards him, grabbing him by the arm and spinning him around to face him. Pip squeaked and covered his nipples with his free arm instinctively.

"Who the hell did that to you? Who the fuck did it?" Damien barked.

Pip quivered in fear and let out a whimper. He shut his eyes tightly and turned his head away from him. Damien's expression softened, but that didn't change his stern tone.

"Look at me, Pip."

Pip hesitated for a moment before proceeding to look up at him gingerly. His big, puppy-dog eyes pleaded with Damien as they glistened like a fresh spring lake.

"Tell me who hurt you," Damien stressed each syllable, trying to keep his cool, "I'll fucking kill him."

Pip shook his head, struggling to find something to say, "N-no…"

"No one's getting away with this, Pip. Now tell me who did it."

"N-no one… I-I just fell," Pip turned away from Damien and looked down shamefully at the ground.

Damien frowned at him, slightly angry, "Don't lie to me, Pip."

There was a short pause between them. Damien's grip on Pip's arm loosened and he placed his hand gently upon his cheek, stroking it slightly with his thumb. His voice softened and he looked sweetly into Pip's eyes.

"Why would you want to protect someone who's hurt you?"

Almost immediately Pip's eyes welled up and he broke out in tears. Damien relaxed himself and pulled Pip closer into his arms. Pip continued to sob into his chest and Damien softly ran his hands up and down his sides, taking special care to hover over the thick, painful bruise that stained his skin like blackberry juice spilled over a silk gown. At the same time, Pip's tiny sparkling tears slightly stained the rim of Damien's jumper, who pulled him closer still to allow him to bury his head into the soft cotton and muffle each sob that stung Damien's heart. He lifted a hand from Pip's hip and placed it on his head, running his fingers through the long blonde strands of gold. He rested his cheek on the top of Pip's head and inhaled the sweet aroma of his hair.

"Ssh…"

Pip shivered against his body. After a moment, he pulled back slightly and looked up at Damien, tear stains smeared down his cheeks.

"I… I have to get changed now…"

He looked down embarrassed. Damien had completely forgotten about the fact that the boy he was holding was in fact shirtless. He released him immediately and stepped back abruptly, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"R-right, sorry."

Pip turned back to the bench in which his clothes sat. Damien, about to leave, hesitated for a second.

"Pip," he called.

Pip turned slightly and looked over his shoulder at him curiously.

"You'll be alright, won't you?"

Pip faced the wall again and wiped his cheeks.

"Mmhmm," he sniffed.

"Alright."

A few gradual footsteps echoed though the cold room and the door clicked shut.

When Pip left the changing room, Damien was waiting by the door for him. He made sure to do so after every class that day, even for the ones they didn't share together. He walked Pip to all of his classes, like an escort or a body guard. All the while he could do nothing but stare at the spot where he had seen the bruise, as though he could see through Pip's clothes. He just couldn't get it out of his mind. He could barely sleep that night thinking about it. He needed to know who dared to put their hands on _his_ Pip, but there was no way Pip would tell him.

At lunchtime, the next day, Damien approached Kenny as he saw him enter the cafeteria. He pulled him to the side, his eyes still locked, however, on the lonely table at the back of the room in which Pip sat.

Kenny looked up at him nervously. Although he knew Damien a bit better than the others, he was still shit scared of him. So it wasn't that Damien was "misunderstood," he really was just meant to be feared.

"H-hey there, D-man. What's crack-a-lackin'?" Kenny cowered, trying to tuck his head into his shell like a tortoise while waving sheepishly.

"Cut the crap, Kenny. Now listen to me; you're going to be a good little boy and answer everything I say truthfully, or I'll…"

Damien thought for a moment. Death wouldn't be much of a threat considering Kenny was used to it and although it was extremely painful, it didn't last very long.

"I'll tell everyone about your dirty little secret," he grinned devilishly, "_especially_ your father."

Kenny nodded frantically with widened eyes as though he clicked on immediately to exactly what he meant.

"Good," Damien took a thoughtful pause, "Now, do you know of anyone who has inflicted any sort of pain on my friend Pip?"

"Like bullied? Naw, not since you showed up anyway. 'Cept for the incident with Clyde the other week, but you know that," Kenny winked, growing more comfortable with his current situation.

Damien looked at him and began fully interrogating him on every little detail that may hint, suggest or lead to a potential suspect. He was casual and discreet and Kenny responded loyally, without a care in the world.

Eric sat nearby, listening in.

'_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! He's on to me. What am I gonna do? I'm dead meat. Thank fuck I didn't tell Kenny about any of it. Stinkin' ratting poor fag. I'm gonna have to leave it alone for now, though. Maybe I won't be found out,_' he looked around him at the spacious hall filled with tons of boys and girls, '_but I've got to find a way to be sure…_'

"Hey Eric!"

Eric looked up to find the source of the upbeat, familiar voice only to see Butters place his tray down onto the table and sit next to him, pulling his chair closer to Eric's.

"Butters," he smiled at the sweet blonde boy.

"Watcha doin'?" he looked down at Eric's tray, filled with food, "you haven't started eating yet."

"Yeah, actually Butters… I need your help with something."

"Aw gee," Butters looked down briefly at his hands that he began to fiddle with before looking back up at Eric with shining diamond eyes, "I dunno, Eric. I don't wanna get grounded…"

Eric laughed to himself, "Don't worry, Butters. I've got your back."

Damien and Pip walked along silently down the cold grey streets. Their small footsteps barely made a sound and everything around them seemed dead. Pip desperately tried to find something to say, but couldn't. He winged it, however.

"Umm… Damien?"

Damien looked at him, "Yeah?"

"You… you don't really have to walk me home. I can go from here."

"Not a chance," Damien gave him a small smile.

"But…"

"But nothin'," Damien exclaimed as he threw his arm over Pip's shoulder in a friendly manner.

Pip didn't protest, but looked ahead with a smile.

"Thanks…"

There was another short silence before Pip went to speak again.

"Did you help your father with that stuff the other day, then?"

"Oh… um, yeah," Damien lied poorly. It was a good thing Pip was gullible.

"I saw you talking to Kenny McCormick at lunch today."

"Oh yeah, so I was," Damien trailed off.

"What was that about?"

"Just trying to find out who hurt you, if you must know," he shrugged.

Pip stopped to allow Damien to get a few steps ahead of him, "Damien don't…"

Damien turned back to face Pip and stepped calmly towards him.

"I'm not just going to let it slide, Pip. I'm supposed to protect you," he moved closer, their eyes meeting only inches apart, "I couldn't do that, so I'm going to do what I can to make it up to you. And if I can't punish them, then I'll just have to punish myself."

Damien's last remark struck him. He stuttered, trying to avoid the situation and backtrack to the first thing Damien had said.

"No one said you have to protect me, Damien," Pip said, finding some stability in his voice.

"If I don't, who will?" Damien paused, taking in Pip's still reaction, animated only by the faint blush on his cheeks, "I wouldn't trust anybody else to do it anyway."

"B-but… you don't have to…" Pip protested, however feeling genuinely flattered.

"I want to," Damien stated plain and simple.

Pip did nothing, but stared at the ground, unsure of what to say or do.

Damien took him by the chin and raised his face to meet his own, their noses brushing slightly side by side. Pip's blush grew deeper as the tall demon stared deep into his eyes. The piercing pools of gracious blood engulfed the small, bright blue ones that seemed to drown in the crimson; tranced and helpless.

Pip was sure he was about to explode as he felt more and more blood rushing to his face and he was getting warmer and warmer. Damien did nothing but gaze at the tiny little blonde boy and tilted Pip's head up further so that their lips were almost touching. He held him still as he moved in slightly and coolly.

In a brief second, their lips were pressed together and Damien tightened the grip slowly. Pip's cheeks were burning and he opened his mouth by a mere millimetre to breathe, unsure of what to do. Damien jumped at the opportunity and deepened the kiss, forcing them closer together and letting out a long sigh. Pip responded with a soft muffled groan. He found himself in a daze, very aware of what was going on but uncertain of what it meant. He was too distracted to even think about it and merely enjoyed the moment.

It was a while before all reason came back to him, however. He opened his eyes slowly to see that Damien's were still closed. Pip placed his hands up against Damien's chest and pulled himself back with as little force as he could in Damien's grip.

Damien protested with a grunt-like whine as their lips parted and he looked at Pip, seeming almost hurt. He didn't release him though and his hold on Pip's hips didn't cease.

Nor did Pip's blush and so he merely smiled and looked down, embarrassed.

"Damien…" he looked up again so that their eyes met, still smiling, "I need to go home to do my chores now."

"Alright."

Damien didn't smile back, but he didn't frown either. He let go of Pip hesitantly.

"Come on, then."

He extended his arm out to Pip to take his hand, but Pip stopped him.

"We aren't that far from it. I can take it from here, really."

"Well, if you're sure."

"I am," Pip nodded. He stepped towards Damien and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, giving him a tight hug.

"Thank you…" he whispered.

Damien shook his head and laughed to himself, but he returned the hug all the same.

'_Silly Pip,_' he thought, '_no matter what happens he never refrains from friend-mode._'

They left the embrace together. Pip was still smiling, still blushing. Damien gave him a small smile back.

"Be careful, ok? I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Pip repeated.

He turned to skip off down the streets and called back to Damien.

"Cheerio!"


	8. Chapter 8

The hallways were filled with Friday hype all throughout the school. Finally it had come and everyone was looking forward to the last bell of the week, waiting eagerly for it to ring.

Pip closed his locker door and pulled it up onto his shoulder. Kyle approached him casually.

"Hey Pip," he smiled.

"Oh, hello there Kyle."

"So I was just gonna ask if you're-"

Stan jumped up from behind Kyle and wrapped his arms around him playfully.

"Coming to my party tonight?" he rushed.

Pip giggled softly, "Yes, I should think so."

"Great!" he beamed.

"So Damien is coming too, right?" Kyle added.

"Well I'm not too sure," Pip thought for a moment, "although if he said he would only if I would, which I am, then he must be."

"Perfect," Stan exclaimed, "Make sure the two of you are there at my house at 8 o'clock. Don't forget!"

"Right-o."

"See you then!" Kyle shouted as he and Stan walked off together, Stan's arm still around Kyle's waist.

Damien appeared beside Pip, watching the pair walk off.

"What was that about?"

"The party tonight," Pip stated as he began to walk down the hall to his next class.

Damien followed.

Things had been pretty normal since the kiss. In fact it was almost as though it had never even happened, which was both a relief and yet somewhat disappointing. Damien wanted to go for it again, but he felt like he needed an excuse. He looked at Pip's cute pink lips and thought about the kiss again. It was almost like the perfect first kiss, solely because it was with Pip. Damien had wanted more during the kiss and now, he wanted all the more still.

They walked off into their next class together and wasted the rest of the school day away.

Pip ruffled through his closet restlessly with nothing but a dim light glowing behind him to illuminate what limited selection of clothing he had to choose from.

"I'm sure I have something to wear in here…" he murmured as he sorted through shirts, sweaters and trousers.

"Aha!" he exclaimed.

He picked out what he had spotted and laid it out on the bed. He dropped the towel covering his naked body to the ground and slipped on a pair of plain white briefs.

Around half an hour later, he skipped down the stairs in a thin, long sleeved, light blue t-shirt and a pair of brown jeans. He grabbed a heavy, red coat from the head of the banister and threw it on. He took a moment to check himself in the mirror and fix his hair into place.

"There," he sighed with a small smile.

A tall, big nosed, gruff man trudged in from the living room. He stopped when he saw Pip and stared at him, raising an eyebrow. Pip noticed him from the mirror and turned around to greet him.

"I'm just about to leave now, Brian."

The man scowled at him.

"I'll be home by 11 o'clock, I'm sure. I won't be late."

Brian grunted, "And?"

Pip stuttered, "Well I just thought I should let you know seeing as-"

"I don't care," Brian interrupted as he began to drag himself up the stairs.

"A-alright then," Pip managed to squeak, "Well… cheerio!"

No response.

Pip grabbed his keys from the small wooden table against the wall and left.

Damien leaned against a wall and crossed his arms. Music was blasting and everyone was shouting loudly to hear one another. Damien looked at his watch impatiently.

'_8:15? Where the hell is he?_'

Stan looked up from his conversation with Jimmy and a jittery Tweek and noticed the bored looking demon with a "nuclear-holocaust-plz" look on his face. He made his way over to him.

"Hey Damien," he greeted kindly, "where's your little friend?"

Damien shrugged.

"Well when he gets here make sure you two head over to me and Kyle to play spin the bottle."

Damien gave him a half-assed thumbs up and Stan walked away. He glared around him, spotting Clyde. Clyde soon returned the eye contact, only to practically dive into a crowd of people not a second later.

Damien felt a light tap upon his shoulder. He turned to see who it was.

"There you are!" he smiled. He looked down at the heavy coat Pip was wearing, "Aren't you a little warm in that?"

"A little," Pip raised his voice slightly in an attempt to be heard above all the noise.

"Take it off, we'll leave it in the cloak room," Damien instructed.

Pip did as he was told and Damien took the bulgy mound of material from him. He spotted Kenny walking by and threw it to him nonchalantly.

"Here, knave. Take this to the cloak room post haste," he said, holding his head up high and giving Kenny a cheeky grin.

Kenny rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath, but Damien merely laughed, not really caring about what disrespectful thing Kenny had come up with that he was apparently brave enough to say, even if it wasn't out loud and to Damien's face. He wrapped his arm around Pip's waist.

"Come on, then," he nodded towards the small circle of kids, ogling over an empty green beer bottle in the middle of their hexing colony and led Pip towards the trivial, childish game. Damien had a plan.

Damien waited for everyone to shimmy away from him, both to give him room to join in and because they were terrified of him, and sat down beside Stan. He watched as Pip sat opposite him, beside Kyle who smiled at him cheerfully.

Stan and Kyle looked up immediately in response to the sound of the nearby closet door clicking open.

"That's _gross!_" Craig shouted as he stormed out of the closet.

Bebe ran out after him, taking hold of his arm, "But wait! That wasn't even 7 minutes!"

"I told you, I _don't_ like you!" Craig pulled his arm from her grip and began to walk away as fast as he could.

"We didn't even get to kiss!" Bebe trailed off as she went after him.

Everyone looked at each other awkwardly in silence.

After a few seconds, Kyle got up on his knees and beamed at them all, "Alright then, looks like it's Damien's turn."

"No it's not, _I'm_ next," Wendy Testaburger whined.

Kyle glared at her as evilly as possible, "No, it's Damien's turn," he stressed darkly.

Wendy turned her gaze to Stan, who was silently admiring how adorable Kyle was when he tried to look scary and threatening, and looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Staaaaaan…"

"It's Damien's turn, Wendy," Stan rolled his eyes without even sparing her a glance. Wendy crossed her arms in a huff.

"Ok then…" Damien replied, slightly lost.

Nevertheless, he reached out for the bottle. He knew what Stan and Kyle were doing, which was exactly in Damien's favour, so their yaoi obsessed shenanigans didn't bother him in the slightest.

Kyle winked at Stan, who returned the very mischievous look. Pip looked at them both confused. He turned to Kyle, worriedly.

"Excuse me, but… what game are we playing again?"

"7 minutes of Heaven," Kyle responded casually, hiding the sinisterly cute expression on his face. Stan just watched, amused.

"Oh…" Pip paused for a second, "so it's quite an enjoyable game then, is it?"

Kyle watched intrigued as Damien gave the bottle a strong spin. A smug smile grew across his sweet face, "It _will_ be."

Stan grinned.

The bottle began to slow down. Damien stared at it, concentrating fully with his power charging rapidly through his body. He focused with all of his energy until the bottle finally began to come to a stop…

"Yes!" Stan and Kyle blurted as they almost jumped up onto their feet.

Everybody stared at them blankly and Pip looked even more confused than ever.

"I mean, uh… look! Hehe… it's pointing to you, Pip."

Damien tried to hide the content grin on his face. He merely stood up and grabbed Pip's arm, gently pulling him up with him.

Stan opened the closet door and gestured for them to go inside like an attendant.

"Enter," he cooed with a posh tone in his voice, acting very stuck up and proper, suppressing a chuckle.

Damien began to lead Pip in, but Pip stopped him nervously.

"Umm… Damien? Why are we going into a closet?"

"You'll seeeeee," Kyle sung as he closed the door behind them.

Stan and Kyle looked at each other smugly. Soon after, they heard Every Time We Touch by Cascada from the other room.

Kyle looked at Stan excitedly, "Oh! That's our song playing, Stan," he clasped his hands together and looked at him with pleading eyes and a big, bright smile, "Let's go dance."

Stan laughed, linking his arms with Kyle, "Alright."

They began to make their way into the living room, abandoning their guard on the closet door.

Pip looked around him to allow his eyes to adjust to the darkness. The sound of music and carry-on was muffled behind the small closet door. He looked over at Damien, who sat so casually at the other side, while Pip was pressed firmly against the wall. Damien looked at him with a smirk.

"S-so… Damien, how do we play this '7 minutes of Heaven'?"

Damien stalked a few steps closer to him until their bodies were pushed together and Pip was almost pinned roughly against the wall.

"Why that's easy," he smiled.

Damien placed two fingers under Pip's chin and tilted his head up. Pip looked up at him, completely under his control.

"In fact…" he hushed in a sexy, low voice, "I'll show you."

Wendy stormed angrily over to Stan, who was holding Kyle in his arms lovingly.

"Alright, it's been 7 minutes already. Get them out of there and give me my turn!"

Kyle looked up at her like a lion disturbed from its sleep.

"Fine," he pouted.

He released himself from Stan's grip and led the way back into the hall. Stan and Wendy followed. Wendy looked at Stan sweetly.

"You'll be playing, right Stan?"

"Don't count on it Wendy," Stan answered coldly.

Kyle stopped in front of the small closet door and wrapped his fist lightly against the hard wood.

"Ok you two, time's up!" he called.

There was no response. Kyle grabbed the handle and swung the door open, only to find himself completely shocked.

Pip's arms were loosely wrapped around Damien's neck, his cheeks a pretty shade of deep pink. Their lips were locked, separated only by the occasional flicker of a tongue as they slid over each other passionately. Damien's hands were firmly holding on to Pip's hips, keeping him in place against Damien's body.

Damien's eyes opened, non-caring as he looked up to find Stan, Kyle, Wendy and a few others behind them staring in, still involved in he and Pip's embrace.

They closed a single kiss, giving Damien time to speak.

"Make it 11 minutes, ok?"

Pip kissed him again, not seeming to notice that audience that they had attracted.

"That rhymes with 'Heaven' too, doesn't it?"

Damien closed in on Pip's lips again and took a hand from his waist, shutting the door.

Stan and Kyle looked at each other for a moment before letting out a loud, giddy squeal.

"Ok, ok," Kyle jumped up and down excitedly, "who do we do now?"

Stan thought for a moment. They looked at each other with a grin, as though they knew exactly what the other was thinking.

"Oh Eric!" Kyle called.

"Butters!" Stan chimed in.

Meanwhile, Damien and Pip feasted on each other still in the small, dark closet. Pip moaned in pleasure against Damien's warm tongue, who savoured the taste of the boy and took delight in teasing him as he began to nibble softly on his bottom lip. Pip tilted his head back and whimpered slightly. Damien wrapped his arms fully around Pip's waist and moved his hands slowly downwards until they were placed perfectly on Pip's ass. Pip responded by capturing Damien's lips again and lifting his leg slightly so that it rubbed against his thigh. Damien moved one hand under Pip's leg, rubbing it slowly as he took a firmer grip on his butt cheek with his other hand. Pip groaned softly into him and pushed into the kiss with more force. Their tongues twisted together and tasted each other playfully.

'_Fuck 11 minutes,_' Damien thought to himself, enjoying every second of it, '_I could do this all night._'

"This is so unfair!" Wendy moaned.

Kyle rolled his eyes, he was beyond sick of her since the 4th Grade.

"Calm down, Wendy," Stan joined in before Kyle could get really pissed off, "you know judging by how eager you are to get your turn, I can tell it must be _really_ hard for you to get a chance to kiss anyone but just chillax, ok?"

Wendy was practically boiling now, red with both anger and embarrassment. She hated how Stan treated her now, because although he tried to be nice on occasion, when she did something that somehow annoyed him he was cold and insulting. She especially hated how Kyle came first.

"Fine! I don't even want to play this stupid game anyway!" she yelled before storming off to find any one of her friends to confide in.

Kyle rolled his eyes, "That wasn't the case a minute ago."

"Let's just see if our favourite little couple are done yet," Stan proposed, avoiding the option of going to see if Wendy was ok.

"Alright," Kyle smiled, glad that Stan didn't go after her.

They linked arms again and walked back towards the closet. Again, Kyle rapped the door.

Damien pulled away from he and Pip's kiss and looked at the beautiful, blushing boy, his eyes half closed in a daze.

"I think we should go now," he whispered to him.

Pip's eyes opened and he looked up at Damien shyly before pushing the words out of his mouth.

"A-alright…" he said, too lost in utter satisfaction to rebel.

Damien smiled and placed a small kiss on his lips once more. He stepped back and released Pip, opening the closet door. Kyle and Stan stared at them eagerly as Damien gestured for Pip to go ahead.

"To the punch bowl," he whispered in his ear as Pip passed him. Pip nodded slightly and began to make his way there.

Kyle beamed at Damien.

"How was it?" Stan asked with a wide smile.

"None of your business," Damien winked as he turned and walked off, going after Pip.


	9. Chapter 9

"Alright Butters, are you ready?"

"I-I think so Eric…" Butters replied nervously, looking down at his knuckles that he fumbled lightly together.

The bathroom cubical was cold and cramped, which was probably why they were only made for one person at a time. Butters and Eric's bodies were almost forced against each other and Butters felt warm. Their current situation made him feel anxious.

"Good," Eric said as he leaned in slyly so that he could whisper in Butters' ear, "Now get to it."

Butters nodded with a gulp.

"I hate getting Maths homework!" Bill blurted in a fury.

He and his best friend, Fosse, were standing by their lockers. It was break time on Monday morning and they had nothing better to do. They never did.

"Yeah," Fosse chuckled obnoxiously, "Maths is gay."

"Yeah," Bill agreed.

"Y-y'know what else is gay?" a stray voice from behind chirped in.

Bill and Fosse looked up to see a very scared looking Butters standing on his own, fiddling with his hands.

"You?" Bill barked with a grin, as though he had just said something clever.

"Hehe yeah, you're gay."

"W-well yeah… but no, I was talking about-"

"Yo momma?"

"Yeah, yo momma's gay!"

"Umm… I was just gonna say how it was really gay today when Clyde was sayin' bad stuff about you two, but um-"

"Who said what about us?" Bill sounded interested now.

"C-Clyde… he was sayin' about how you guys act tough, but you aren't."

"Aren't tough? We'll show him!"

"Yeah, he's gay," Fosse added.

"N-no you can't show _him._"

"And why not?"

" 'C-cause… 'cause um he was sayin' about how you could never pull such a raw move like he did when he threw that rock at that um that little British kid."

"That wasn't so badass," Bill protested.

"Yeah, that was gay."

"Yeah but he said he'd love to see you prove it… by uh… by doin' better. On the British kid."

"Wait, there's a British kid at our school?"

"The French one, then."

"Oh yeah!"

"He's gay, hehe."

Butters looked around, he didn't like to be alone with Bill and Fosse, but Eric promised that he wouldn't be far in case something happened and Butters trusted him.

"Yeah, so uh… yeah," he said nervously.

"You tell that Clyde that next time he sees Frenchie, it'll all be down to Bill and Fosse and that every single mark on him is _our_ work. And let me tell you, it's gonna be way better than a tiny little boo-boo on his head."

Butters gave Bill a single nod and watched the two of them walk off. Once he was sure that they were gone, he turned around to see Eric peeking out at him from a corner. He gave Butters a thumbs up, to which Butters responded with a proud-of-himself smile.

The morning soon turned to the afternoon and break time turned to lunch time. Eric sat across from Butters at their usual table. Although they normally liked to wait for the rest of their friends to show up and sit with them, Eric made sure they took advantage of the time they had together.

"Do you see Kenny, now?" Eric asked in a low voice so that no one could hear them.

"Mmhmm, he just walked in."

"Good now wave to him, get him over to the table."

Butters waved happily over to Kenny with a bright smile. Kenny smirked back at him and ran over to the table, pulling up a chair beside Eric.

"Well, well, well, Butters. Are we all done with resisting such a sex bomb and ready to take this hot piece of dick for a ride?" he joked, acting extremely flirty.

Butters just blushed, not knowing what to say. Eric glared at his horny companion, but shook it off and put his arm around him, patting his back.

"Haha! You're hilarious, Kenny, you really are. But dude," he tilted his head to the side with pleading eyes and a slight pout, "I need a favour."

"Fuck off, fat ass! No friggin' way."

"You don't even know what it is!"

"I don't need to," Kenny argued, crossing his arms over his chest and slumping down further into his seat, "This is _you_ we're talking about."

"No dude, I've got a sweet deal for you! Listen, there's this snuff movie I really really need, ok?"

"And?" Kenny looked up at Eric, getting slightly interested by Eric's emphasis on how much he "really really needs" this movie.

"There's this awesome, out of the way place that does all sorts of illegal movies, copyrights and pirating and they have it. But they only have a few copies and they'll go like the wind."

"Aaaaand?"

"And they're releasing them _today!_ At 2 o'clock."

"So skip school."

"I can't! If I miss any more class and fall behind in a subject again, my mom's gonna ground me and if that happens, she won't let me watch TV, which means I won't be able to watch the movie either!"

"That's some problem you got there," Kenny replied, pretending not to care.

"See that's where I need you."

"Why whatever for, Eric?" Kenny asked innocently.

"Well you never mind missing class, you're always skipping school," Eric looked at Kenny to see that he still didn't seem interested. "Here," he said as he pushed $40 into Kenny's hand, "the movie will only be about $15, you can keep the change."

Kenny looked at him with an "are you serious" expression, but didn't bother asking and merely took the money from Eric.

"You've got yourself a deal, my friend."

"Great, now I drew you a map to this place… now you've _got_ to be there by 10 to 2, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kenny flipped through the four $10 bills as though he was counting them by the hundreds. He seemed almost enticed by the amount that Eric had given him.

Eric took a folded up piece of paper from his shirt pocket and handed it to Kenny, "Here's the directions from the school to there."

Kenny pulled out the top of his baggy jumper to slip the paper and the money into his shirt pocket, "Thanks buddy," he smiled smugly at Eric and he sat up. He sneaked Butters a cheeky wink and strutted out of the cafeteria.

Butters looked at Eric confused, "Umm… Eric? What part of the plan was this?"

"Don't you worry about that Butters," he answered, turning away from Butters.

"But…"

"But nothing, you did your part and that's all that matters."

Butters looked down at his tray with a frown, "O-ok…"

"Where the hell _is_ this place?"

Kenny held the poorly drawn map out in front of him, trying to follow the directions.

"Ok so it was left at the traffic lights and now…"

He looked up to find an old, tall building that towered high above him.

"Hmm…" he looked back down at the map before folding it up and slipping it back into his pocket, "maybe this is the place. Not so much "out of the way" though…"

He pushed open a glass door and walked inside. Elevator music seemed to play through the whole place. It all _looked_ like a giant elevator. The carpet was ugly, trying to be pretty and the walls were plain but bright. There was even a large desk at which a woman with an incredibly fake smile pasted on her face sat. It resembled some sort of low key B&B and even though that would be like a luxury for Kenny's family, even he thought it looked like shit.

There was a various assortment of posters on the wall, titled with some weird, religious slogans and sayings. Kenny looked around him and continued to venture through the lengthy halls, past rows and rows of doors. Some of the open doors revealed more people sitting at desks, usually with someone else sitting in front of them. Other rooms were just being entered or exited by random people Kenny had seen before, being led out or urged in by random people Kenny had never seen before.

Everyone he passed smiled at him, greeting him as nicely as they could. Kenny just ignored them, still looking around confused as he made his way aimlessly through the building.

Suddenly, a young man in his 20s appeared in front of him, "Well hey there, young man!" he greeted in an irritating, loud voice, "Are you here to sign up and become a Scientologist like all the other great people in the universe, too?"

"Scientology?" Kenny pulled out his map again.

'_This can't be right…_'

He stopped in an instant, noticing a small red light attached to the piece of paper. It blinked simultaneously, getting faster and faster, beginning to make a faint beeping sound.

As the flashing of the light got faster, so did the beeping and as the beeping got faster, its volume got louder. It was now at a raging speed. Kenny realised what it was.

"Aw _fu-_"

There was an ear splitting explosion that engulfed the entire building and destroyed every last brick. Bits and pieces blew out in every direction, windows shattered, pedestrians screamed and the remains of the building collapsed to the ground with a loud crash. A thick cloud of grey smoke formed over the rubble and slowly faded off into the skies.

"Aw fuck," Damien moaned as he hung up his mobile. He and Pip were just leaving the school.

"What's wrong?"

"There's an emergency down in Hell. Apparently a bunch of Scientologist dip shits just got blown to bits and now they're all there, stirring some shit. Dad needs my help."

"Oh, well good luck," Pip said as he gave Damien a sympathetic hug.

"Thanks," Damien gave him a light squeeze back before Pip let go of him, "but I won't be able to walk you home. I need to go now."

"That's alright, I'll be ok."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Pip smiled.

"Alright, well why don't you text me when you get home so I know you're safe and when I'm back from Hell I'll phone you?"

"Right-o."

"Talk to you then, and don't forget to text me. See you later," Damien called as he ran off in the opposite direction.

"Tally-ho!"

Damien disappeared into the background and Pip began to make his way home. Eric watched nearby, well hidden and unseen.

'_Perfect…_'

Bill and Fosse lurked in a dark alley, watching closely in both directions to see if anyone was coming their way. They had ran there since school had ended and were waiting for quite some time now for Pip, who was taking a calm pace to suit him on this crisp autumn day.

A small, blurred figure began to appear, getting closer and closer. After a while, its features became colourful and animated and revealed a sweet, young boy who hummed merrily on his way.

"There he is!" Bill whispered, "Get ready."

They watched carefully as Pip unknowingly walked into their grasp. The second he stepped before the opening of the smelly alley, Fosse grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the darkness. Pip let out a scream in surprise.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Frenchie?" Bill yelled.

Fosse slammed his side into the old, hard wall, badly hurting Pip's shoulder. He let out a yelp in agony. Bill stepped towards him as Fosse turned him around and pinned him against the wall stomach first. Pip tried to look at Bill in his uncomfortable position and Fosse twisted his arms behind his back, holding them tightly in place.

"What the fuck did I say about making any noise? Do you want us to get caught out?"

Pip shut his eyes tight and shook his head vigorously, holding back a helpless whimper.

"Ha! Of course you do, you fucking waste!" Bill watched Pip's trembled expression for a moment, "Fosse, let me have him."

Fosse pulled him from against the wall and put his arms under Pip's to lock him in a full Nelson, holding him back slightly so that Pip's chest was pushed outwards.

Bill grinned at the defenceless boy. He lifted his head up by the chin and looked closely at his face.

"You know…" he started, teasingly, "you're kind of cute when you're shitting yourself."

"Don't be gay," Fosse chuckled.

Bill looked up at him angrily, "I'll show you gay!" he growled as he pounded one clenched fist hard into Pip's sensitive stomach.

Pip let out a cry of pain and choked slightly on his breath. Bill grinned and almost immediately drove his knee straight into Pip's crotch. Pip screamed and began to cry, the tears pouring quickly down his face.

Bill slapped him across the face, "What the fuck did I tell you?"

The force of the slap caused Fosse to stumble back and loose his grip on Pip. Pip fell to the dirty ground. He rolled over slowly onto his side and attempted to push himself up, but Bill got down and knelt over him. He slapped him across the face again.

"I said what the fuck did I tell you?"

Pip was sobbing now, too frightened to say or do anything. He couldn't even find the energy to attempt to cover his face with his arms. Another sharp slap was inflicted across his face.

"Answer me!"

He grabbed Pip by the shoulders and started shaking him, bashing him off the ground. Pip's vision blurred. He felt dizzy and couldn't think. His mind was all over the place. He just flopped around like an old rag doll, screaming out for help.

"I _said_-"

"Get the fuck off him!" a loud, angered voice shouted at the top of his lungs.

Damien ran towards Bill, pulling him roughly off of Pip, digging his fingers into Bill's arm. Bill and Fosse froze; even they understood what kind of danger they were in now. Pip scrambled to his feet before Damien could even help him up. He heard footsteps dashing off at top speed and turned from Bill to see Pip was gone. All that was there was his schoolbag, which he had most likely forgotten in all the hassle.

However, Damien didn't go after him. He had two very idiotic boys to deal with first. He looked back at Bill with a grin, knowing that Fosse didn't need to be captured to ensure that he wouldn't try to run off.

Damien's fist was instantly ablaze with a scorching ball of fire that illuminated the dark alley as he held it above his head in the perfect position and Bill let out a blood curling scream.


	10. Chapter 10

"You get me zat money by Zursday and zat's final!" Christophe slammed the receiver down onto the table. "Fuck sake…" he muttered.

"Got a bit of a problem?"

He looked up, slightly startled, to find a dark figure standing at his bedroom door, " 'oo ze fuck are you? 'oo let you in 'ere?"

"Your mother let me in," the figure stepped closer, pulling up a chair in front on Christophe's desk and sitting on it backwards, folding his arms over its head. His face was still masked by the darkness of Christophe's room.

" 'oo are you?"

"Me?" A pure white grin of sharp teeth formed before Christophe, "Why… I'm just the Anti-Christ."

It was the beginning of a brand new school day on Friday morning. Damien and Pip sat side by side in their usual registration spot, waiting patiently for Mrs Matthews to show up. They were unusually quiet, but it had been like that almost all week.

Pip was probably just embarrassed that Damien had seen him in such a state when Bill and Fosse were tormenting him. He knew that Damien had seen him in a state plenty of times before, but he felt guilty that it had gotten the two bullies into trouble. Plus, he _knew_ something was up when they didn't show up for school the next day and only yesterday were they reported missing. So Pip knew something serious had happened, he was just too afraid to confront Damien about it. Too afraid to face the truth.

Damien was very well aware that Pip knew in his heart what happened, although he had wished that Pip wouldn't realise how sinister the situation actually was. He didn't have a second thought about it himself, but he was concerned about what Pip thought about it. The light hearted blonde obviously didn't like it, but Damien did it for him. He wondered if he could have done it differently for Pip's sake.

Suddenly, his mobile buzzed in his shirt pocket. He lifted it out without even bothering to check if any teachers were about and checked his messages. There was a small, pink envelope beside the name "MOLE."

'_Call at 12:30 sharp. I've got something._'

Damien deleted the message and slipped his phone back into his pocket. Pip looked up at him as if to ask "who was that?" In response, Damien merely smiled sweetly at him and pet his head, stroking his soft, shiny hair.

Mrs Matthews scuttled in in a tizzy, "A-alright class… let's get started," she rushed as she opened up her register and began calling out the names in alphabetical order.

Damien put his arm around Pip and pulled him in closer. He had been doing so the whole week, protecting what was his. But he'd have to leave Pip alone for a while at lunchtime considering he had some serious business to take care of.

"So do you know who it could have been?"

"I 'ave a good idea," Christophe's voice came from the other end of Damien's mobile. He was standing alone behind the school, making sure no one else was there.

"Well then," he answered impatiently, "spit it out. How did you do it and who was it?"

"I told you, I can't be positive but it's a good lead. I 'ad to stick around outside 'is 'ouse before I could get anyzing…"

"Hey wait a minute, I told you no stalking! I don't want you freaking him out."

"You asked me to find out 'oo it was and even if I'm wrong, I'm sure zis will be a very vital piece of information for you."

"So what is it?" Damien barked, growing agitated.

" 'is foster parents…" Christophe said in a low voice.

Damien paused, "Wait… what do you mean?"

"Zey must be alcoholics, but I don't know for sure. All I know is zat zey were blocked last night."

Damien said nothing and just listened carefully.

"Ze guy started yelling at Pip out of the blue. Pip did nozing."

"And then…?"

"And zen 'ee beat 'im."

Damien's eyes widened in horror, "… W-what?"

" 'it 'im, kicked 'im, you know," Christophe answered casually.

"How bad was it?" Damien managed to say.

"Not as brutal as 'ee's probably used to. Judging by 'ow Pip took it I'd say zat 'ee's used to it, maybe even to a lot worse zan zat."

Damien couldn't find anymore words to say. He was shocked. He knew Pip had a crummy life at school, but it never crossed his mind that he had to put up with that sort of abuse _all_ of the time.

"Is zat it, zen?" Christophe broke the silence, suspecting Damien wasn't going to say anything without a prompt.

"Huh?"

"Is ze job done?"

"Y-yeah…" Damien answered half lost. He couldn't think straight at the minute.

"I'll be expecting ze ozer 'alf of my pay by Monday zen."

Damien gave a grunt of approval, nodding slightly even though he knew Christophe wouldn't be able to see that.

"Au revoir zen, mon ami."

Christophe hung up. Damien sat and listened to the dial tone with a blank expression on his face. Slowly, his mouth curled into a scowl and his eyes blazed with raging flames. Someone was going to pay for this. But for the minute, he was concerned with only one thing.

Pip looked up at the fluffy white clouds that hovered above in the bright blue sky and smiled widely. It was such a nice day in South Park, despite everything else that had been going on. It seemed to contrast with all the terrible things that had been happening and compensated for it in its own primitive way.

Pip turned to Damien to see if he was enjoying the scenery as well, but he was just looking straight ahead blankly as they walked along on their usual route. It wasn't long after school and Damien was walking Pip home once more. Soon, they were approaching the street that Damien always left Pip off at. Pip stopped, but Damien continued walking forward without even realising they had arrived.

"Umm… Damien?"

Damien stopped and turned to face Pip, who stepped closer to him.

"We're here."

Damien merely grabbed his arm and pulled him along, continuing on his path.

"D-Damien stop… what are you doing?"

"You're not going back there."

"But I have to! I have to do my chores."

Damien said nothing, still pulling Pip helplessly along. Pip picked up his speed and caught up so he didn't have to be dragged.

"Damien…"

"Just come on."

"But-"

"Quiet," Damien interrupted coldly.

Pip said nothing more and followed along. He was tempted to ask more questions though and didn't cease to worry about what would happen if he wasn't home on time. Damien seemed uncaring. It almost worried Pip.

It wasn't long before they arrived at Damien's house. Pip paused nervously as Damien took out his keys and opened the door. He pulled Pip in, walking quickly in through the hall.

"Dad, I'm home!" he called as they made their way up the stairs, "I've brought a friend, we'll be in my room."

Pip looked around as he ran behind Damien, still in his grip. Their house looked surprisingly normal, if not, fabulous.

'_My, Satan must be quite the decorator,_' Pip thought as he admired the layout and choice of colours, designs and patterns.

He was pulled into a dark room. Damien shut the door behind them and instantly it went pitch black. Pip looked around frightened, trying to let his eyes adjust. Damien turned the light switch slightly, turning it on so that it gave out a dim glow. Now that Pip could see, he realised that he was in Damien's bedroom. Before he could take it in, Damien pulled him over to the bed and pushed him down onto it, resting him in a sitting position against the large headboard. Damien held onto his shoulders firmly and knelt low over Pip, his ass hovering just above his lap. He leaned in so close that their foreheads were pressed together. Pip blushed deeply.

"U-umm… Damien? W-why… what are you doing? I need to go home…"

"You're not going home tonight."

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean I'm not letting you go back."

Pip stared at Damien worriedly, "What are you going to do to me?"

"Relax Pip," Damien whispered in his ear as he began to stroke Pip's cheek, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm protecting you from _them._"

"W-who's 'them'?"

Damien sat up, coming away from Pip's face so that he could look directly into his eyes better, "You know who I mean Pip. I'd have to be mad to let you go home to _that._ You don't have to put up with that kind of abuse again."

Pip turned away shamefully, "I-it's not…"

"Not what? Not abuse?" Pip didn't respond. Damien took him by the chin and turned his head to face him, "I _know_ what he did you to Pip."

There was a short pause. Pip looked as though he was about to cry again as his eyes glistened with tears. He sniffed slightly. Damien lay down on his side beside him and looked at the poorly young boy.

"Pip… why didn't you tell me?"

Pip turned away from him, "I… I was scared…"

Damien said nothing and merely stared at the back of Pip's head, thinking. He heard another sniff and Pip raised his hand up to his face as though he were wiping tears away. Damien sat up and turned Pip around, taking him in his arms.

"Hey now… don't cry," he hushed as he pulled him into a warm hug, "You don't need to be scared anymore. You know that."

Pip continued to sniffle into Damien's jumper. Damien pulled him off of his body so that he could look right at him. Pip wiped more tears from his cheek.

"It's ok," Damien whispered as he placed a gentle kiss on Pip's forehead, "You don't have to go back to them ever again."

Pip looked up at him confused, "But Damien… I have to. I live there."

"I'm not letting you go back," Damien replied sternly.

"But-"

"You're staying right here."

Pip looked around, '_In his bed?_' He felt his cheeks grow warm.

"Now come on," Damien said as he got off the bed and stood over Pip, pulling Pip up with him, "We might as well let my father know."

"Y-your father?" Pip stuttered.

"Don't worry," Damien laughed, "he's harmless."

Pip didn't look so certain, but nevertheless Damien took him by the hand and led him out of the room, relieved knowing that he wasn't at home when God knows what could happen.

Damien's bathroom was surprisingly warm despite the fact that the walls were lined with marble tiles. A beautiful, old fashioned candle chandelier hung from the ceiling and matching candle holders were placed all around the room, on the windowsill and around the bath. Pip stood on the fluffy, red carpet and lifted the clothes Damien had left for him off of the radiator; a loose black top with the letter "D" on the front and a baggy pair of long, dark blue bottoms. He threw them on quickly, not feeling comfortable with being nude in someone else's house. However, he didn't feel terribly comfortable with any of this. He was extremely unsure of Damien's decision to keep him from going home, but it was too late now. Instead, he went along with whatever Damien had decided on and walked back to his bedroom.

Damien watched as Pip opened the door carefully and walked in, closing the door behind him. He pulled the blanket off of him and opened his legs slightly wider so that Pip could lie against him. He held his arms out to him and Pip walked towards him sheepishly.

"Don't be shy," Damien smiled, still holding his arms out.

Pip climbed into the bed hesitantly, nestling himself up against Damien's warm chest. Damien ran his fingers through his hair.

"You know, you look pretty good in black."

Pip almost giggled, rubbing his cheek against the soft material of Damien's t-shirt. He closed his eyes and Damien pulled the sheets back over the two of them.

"I suppose you're too tired to watch a movie then?"

"Not at all," Pip murmured from his comfort zone.

"The Addams Family?"

"Ok," Pip smiled. It was one of his favourite, non-animated, non-romantic movies.

Damien grabbed the remote on his bedside table and pressed play. Pip hadn't even noticed the TV across from his bed. He sat up slightly and wrapped his arms around Damien's neck so that he could face the TV properly. Damien smiled, wrapping his arms around Pip's waist as the movie began to start. Pip snuggled closer to Damien needily.

"You see?" Damien hushed as he gave Pip a light squeeze, "You're safe now."


	11. Chapter 11

Pip woke up to find himself in a strong embrace with Damien, who was still fast asleep. They were covered with a thick quilt and a crimson silk blanket. Damien's arms were locked protectively around Pip's body, who still had his arms wrapped around Damien's neck.

It was hot and sticky beneath all the sheets and their soft clothes, but it was the most pleasant sleep Pip had ever had. He looked up at Damien and smiled, nuzzling his cheek against Damien's. He had almost forgotten all about his foster parents and his real home and although he didn't forget, he still didn't think about it.

Why would he let anything ruin the moment?

It was Sunday morning and Damien was sitting with his back turned to Pip on the bed, waiting for him to get dressed. They had spent Saturday lazing around in their (or rather Damien's) pyjamas, but today Damien insisted that Pip borrow some of his clothes so they could go out for the day.

"Are you ready yet?" Damien asked eagerly.

"U-umm… I think," Pip looked at himself unsurely in the tall mirror before him.

Damien turned around and stood up from the bed. He smiled, although it was almost a grin, "See, I _told_ you you look good in black."

Pip turned around to face him. He was wearing a tight black top with long, fishnet sleeves that very nearly showed off his bellybutton and black skinny jeans that were covered just below the knee by a pair of black New Rocks with silver buckles lined down one side on each.

"I'm not sure, Damien…"

"Relax, you look great," Damien smiled, "but you forgot one thing."

Damien walked over to his dressing table and grabbed something, taking it behind Pip. He placed it around his neck and buckled it at the back.

"There," he announced, turning Pip around to look in the mirror.

On Pip's neck was a pretty black choker, with a silver letter "D" in the middle. He blushed slightly, feeling like he was wearing a dog collar and Damien was his owner. He looked up at Damien, who wrapped his arms around his waist.

He smirked cheekily, "You look good enough to eat."

"Damien!" a call came from downstairs.

"Hmm… I wonder what dad wants. Come on," he released Pip's waist, but took his hand, "let's go see."

Damien led Pip out of the room. As they came to the top of the stairs, Damien halted to see his father standing at the front door, with Officer Barbrady standing outside.

"What's going on?" Damien asked, tightening his grip on Pip's hand.

Satan looked up at the pair in remorse. Officer Barbrady turned immediately to Pip.

"There you are! Alright now Pip it's time to go."

"Excuse me?" Damien butted in.

"Pip has to go back to his family."

Damien walked further down the stairs, bringing Pip with him, "No he doesn't."

"Don't be silly, of course he does. His foster parents called and said he didn't go home on Friday."

"There's a reason for that," Damien snarled, pulling Pip closer to his body.

"Well I'm sure that's something Pip can discuss with his foster parents, they're waiting for him now."

"No!"

"Damien behave yourself!"

"I'm not letting him go back to them!"

"Now now, no need to make a fuss. Pip just has to come with me, no questions asked," Officer Barbrady droned in his moronic tone.

Pip stepped helplessly towards Officer Barbrady without a word, but Damien held him back.

"Pip is staying with me," he growled.

"Damien let him go _now._ We're going to have a very serious talk about this."

"Make me!"

In an instant, Satan pulled Damien towards himself, causing him to let go of Pip with the sudden force. Officer Barbrady indicated for Pip to come with him and Pip obediently started to walk out the door, looking back at Damien vulnerably.

"Pip don't!"

Satan covered Damien's mouth and waved Pip off, "It was nice having you, Pip," he smiled, struggling to keep Damien under control.

Soon, the door slammed shut. Damien became more violent in his attempt to break free of Satan's grip. He bit his hand ferociously, causing Satan to let out a yelp of pain and let go of Damien's mouth. Damien ran for the door, but Satan was too quick and he beat him to it.

"What the fuck are you doing? I need to get Pip back!"

"Damien Abaddon Satan, don't you dare speak to me like that!"

"They're going to fucking kill him! How could you do this?"

"I didn't do anything Damien, _you're_ the one who kidnapped your classmate without telling me!"

"I was protecting him!"

"Stop it _now._ You're grounded," Satan refrained from yelling, but kept his tone stern and harsh.

"You can't ground me!"

"I just did," Satan folded his arms across his chest, "and I'm taking your powers from you."

"What?" Damien was furious, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"I am extremely disappointed in you, mister."

"Me? What about those bastards that you just sent Pip away to? They're going to beat the shit out of him!"

Satan's expression softened, "Baby there's nothing we can do about that…"

"Yes there is! And I was doing it until you ruined everything!"

"Little Horn… I'm sorry, it's none of our business," Satan reached out to place his hand on Damien's head in an attempt to comfort him.

Damien pulled back angrily, "Get away from me," he muttered.

"Damien…"

"I hate you!" Damien shouted as he turned and stormed his way back up stairs.

Satan stood and watched in awe, forlorn and hurt.

Damien dashed into the school first thing on Monday morning. He had been sure to get up early without hitting the snooze button on his alarm clock, going straight to the bathroom where he already had his uniform all laid out and grabbing a peanut butter sandwich wrapped in tinfoil he had made the night before to eat on his way to school. He _had_ to see Pip.

He burst into their tutor room and looked around frantically, but no one was there. Not even the foul smelling Kel Galway had shown up yet. He threw his bag recklessly beside his desk and tried to think.

'_Monday… Monday… what's Monday?_' he paused for a moment before the light in his head flashed on brightly, "Choir!" he exclaimed.

He ran back out of the room, heading for the music rooms. He paid no attention to the few teachers who had called after him, instructing him not to run in the corridors. He pushed past the odd early bird nerd until he skidded to a halt before a door with "Music Room 1" written on it.

He stood in silence for a moment, listening to the sound of boys and girls singing (but mostly girls) and a piano backing them up.

_Holy, Holy Spirit_

_Holy, Holy Spirit_

_Breathe on me_

_Breathe on me_

He cringed, but pushed the door open slightly and peeked in. He searched the rows frantically, still trying to keep cover. Soon, the chorus of voices stopped and only one rang throughout the large, echoing room. Damien's eyes were caught on Pip, watching beautiful music soar from his mouth and completely entice Damien, despite the song.

_Clear the shackles from my mind,The veil is torn and I'm not blind,Walk with me into the Holy of Holies,Let me find that peace and joy,All my fears and doubts destroy,Keep me from sin,My heart is open,Come on in._

Damien shook his head, bringing himself back to earth. He looked again as the rest of the choir burst into chorus once more.

'_Ok… well Pip's here…_' he thought, slowly trying to process what that meant, '_He looks ok… at least he doesn't have a black eye. But what if there's worse under his clothes? How am I supposed to know for sure?_'

He watched as Pip's eyes strayed from the teacher that was conducting the choir, with her bingo wings swaying back and forth as she waved her arms in the air, until their eyes locked. Pip blushed slightly when he noticed Damien, finding it hard to continue singing. Damien smiled at him in an attempt to encourage him, causing Pip to look down at the ground embarrassed but with a tiny smile.

As the song continued, Damien felt himself become more and more fascinated by Pip's beauty, not to mention his enchanting voice, but at the same time he became more and more aware of the song that was being sung.

He waited until Pip glanced over at him again before blowing him a kiss and leaving. Pip giggled to himself, but kept his focus on singing, thinking about what Damien must have thought about it.

Pip and Damien sat together at their usual table in the cafeteria, chatting away with their usual conversations. For once, Damien hadn't bothered getting a school lunch. He decided that considering he didn't eat them anyway, there was no point in getting one. However he didn't make sure he had brought a packed lunch either, so he stared at Pip's hungrily.

Pip looked up at him, hearing the sound of Damien's stomach rumbling like an earthquake in an empty house.

"I suppose you want something from me?" Pip giggled.

Damien nodded quickly with pleading eyes.

"Lucky for you I brought in shortbread today," Pip smiled as he opened up a neatly folded bundle of tinfoil.

Damien looked to see that there was a thick layer of strawberry icing spread on top of each of them. He grinned, "Aww, you must have known I'd be starving."

Pip laughed and took a piece of the shortbread in his hand. He held it front of Damien as if to tease him. Damien held his mouth open wide so Pip gave in and popped it into his mouth, however Damien held it in place and gave Pip the puppy dog eyes.

"What?"

Damien pointed the other end of the shortbread at Pip until he got the hint. Pip giggled and leaned in slightly, taking a bite off the end of it. Damien bit it in half.

"You were supposed to take more than that," he whined as he popped the rest of Pip's half into the blonde's mouth.

Pip giggled as he swallowed the sweet, sugary snack. He felt a warm hand resting on his own and looked up at Damien who was staring at him with entrancing eyes. Pip blushed and smiled at the handsome boy, feeling him entwine their fingers together. Damien's look turned serious as he tightened his grip on Pip's small hand.

"I'm sorry, Pip…"

"About what?"

"I got you into more trouble with them, didn't I?"

Pip turned away, shaking his head, "Not… not really."

"I'm sorry," Damien whispered as he pulled Pip against him and hugged him tight.

"It's ok Damien, really," Pip pushed back from the embrace slightly so that he could look at Damien, "I had fun spending time with you."

"I'm going to find a way to help you, Pip."

Damien stroked Pip's hair in a comforting manner as Pip sighed contently against his neck.

"Damien… promise me you won't do anything drastic," Pip murmured.

"I can't, my father confiscated my powers."

"Well that's good," Pip admitted as he was gradually released from Damien's hold.

"No it's not. They deserve the worst that I can do to them, Pip."

Pip shook his head, "But you can't… just please don't Damien."

"Alright," Damien sighed, giving in to Pip's pleading, "I won't."

"Thank you," Pip leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Damien's cheek. Neither of them noticed, nor cared, about the people who were currently staring at them. It's not like any of them would have the guts to say anything considering Damien was there.

Damien reached out and placed his hand on Pip's cheek, brushing his hair back slightly, "Can you come back to my place at any time?"

"I can ask."

"It'll have to do for now," Damien looked into Pip's innocent eyes, "but I swear to you Pip, it won't have to last."

"Damien you don't have to do anything."

"Here," Damien said as he took a CD case from his blazer pocket and pushed it into Pip's hand.

Pip looked at it confused, the CD was blank apart from the "DxP" that was written on with thick, dark blue marker.

"I made it last night when I was thinking of you," Damien smiled at Pip, "Listen to it when you're missing me. I'm sure that's often enough," he joked.

Pip didn't disagree, "What's on it?"

"You'll see," Damien winked.


	12. Chapter 12

Damien pulled Pip along the dull, grey streets. The school day had ended and they were on their way home, but Damien had once again decided to drag Pip to his house.

"Just for a few minutes, I promise," Damien reassured the very uncertain Pip.

It wasn't long before they came out of the bitter cold and entered the warmth of Damien's home. They hung their blazers on the coat rack by the door, throwing their bags into the living room before making their way straight up into Damien's room. Damien closed the door behind them.

"Get on the bed," he instructed Pip.

Pip obeyed without question, although he was slightly confused. Damien climbed onto the bed shortly after, kneeling over Pip.

"Now take your shirt off."

Pip went instantly red, "What?"

"Take it off," Damien repeated.

Pip froze. He had no idea what perverted thing Damien was about to do to him and although he fully trusted the beast, he was still slightly frightened. Damien noticed the look in Pip's face right away and tried to comfort him.

"I just want to see what they did to you," he spoke softly, reaching for Pip's tie slowly so as not to startle him.

He began to pull at the black tie until it was loose and hung untied around Pip's neck. Pip did nothing, so Damien continued. He pulled Pip's navy jumper over his head swiftly, careful not to put him in any discomfort in the process.

Pip didn't take his eyes off of Damien as he unbuttoned the top, hard button of Pip's shirt, looking up at him as he did so. Pip was still blushing and his heartbeat increased as Damien began to undo the rest of the buttons.

He finally reached the very last one and pushed Pip's shirt back and down his shoulders. Immediately, Damien could see a large bruise upon Pip's right shoulder. However, it wasn't as dark as the others he had seen on Pip before. The shirt fell down behind Pip's back and the short sleeves hung loosely around his wrists. Damien pushed Pip back so that he was lying down with his arms crossed above his head and lowered himself slightly on top of him.

Damien looked up and down at the delicate body before him. There were no other marks upon the angelic boy's beautiful body. Damien silently admired his smooth, flawless skin and luscious shape, not noticing that he was staring so intently. Pip turned his head to the side and shut his eyes, extremely embarrassed. Damien noticed that he was shaking slightly and leaned in further, placing a soft but passionate kiss on his lips.

Damien found his way down further and began licking and kissing Pip's neck. Pip gasped at the sudden sensation and bit his bottom lip in an attempt to lock up the noises he was fighting not to make. Damien moved down again to Pip's collar bone, sucking at the tender flesh and enjoying the sweet taste. Pip started making broken moans, still trying to keep quiet. However he couldn't hold back his pleasure, no matter how much he wanted to.

Damien took pleasure himself, listening to exactly what his touch did to Pip, who continued to struggle with every sound that yearned to escape from his pink lips. He made his way down Pip's body, tracing his tongue along his pale skin as he did. He was very sure to pass dangerously close to Pip's nipple, smirking as he noticed that they were beginning to perk. Pip groaned softly and started to squirm. He was starting to sweat, feeling completely exposed and completely under Damien's power.

Damien stopped above Pip's trouser line and sucked at his sensitive stomach. Pip gave in completely now and began moaning and gasping, but took care not to go overboard. Although he was still trembling, he allowed himself to relax under Damien's touch. A small red mark began to form on the spot Damien had claimed and Pip's hips started to buck slightly.

"Nnny…"

Pip's lids became heavy but he didn't close his eyes. He found himself lost totally in the shivering feel of Damien's tongue and lips upon his skin. He felt Damien's hands just under his back, rubbing up and down soothingly. Pip struggled to find any reason.

"Nyah…"

He sighed long and lightly as Damien's lips departed from his flesh. The blush on his cheeks was beetroot red now and although he was hot and sweaty, he didn't feel tired. He managed to open up his eyes and look up innocently at Damien, who placed his hands firmly on each hip as though he were about to pull Pip's trousers down.

"Now… are there any marks on the rest of you? Or am I going to have to find out myself?" Damien hushed.

Pip shook his head quickly.

"Alright… but only because I trust you," Damien smiled as he placed another kiss on Pip's awaiting lips.

"Pip!"

Kyle skipped over to the daydreaming Brit. Pip looked up at him, caught completely off guard.

"Huh?"

"Hey Pip," Kyle smiled, sitting down beside him.

Pip had come to the library during free period to do some reading, but his intentions had failed as he realised that he had forgotten all about his work. He looked down at his open file block and noticed the doodles he had come up with in his absentmindedness, covering it up immediately and flashing Kyle a nervous smile, hoping that he didn't see what Pip had drawn.

"H-hello Kyle."

"So did you and Damien have fun at Stan's party?" Kyle gave Pip a cheeky glance and giggled slightly, "You looked like you were having fun."

Pip blushed, "Yeah…"

"Great! So how about you two come along to his Halloween party? It'll be a blast."

"Oh well I'm not so sure. I don't have a costume and I'm-"

"Going to my party," Damien butted in.

Pip almost jumped, '_Where did he come from?_'

"You're having a Halloween party too, Damien?" Kyle asked.

"Well my dad is, but Pip is coming with me."

"Aww what a shame. No problem, but make sure you take lots of pictures. I'd love to see them."

Damien laughed, "We'll see."

"Alright, well I'll see you guys later. Bye!"

Kyle walked off, leaving Pip and Damien alone. Damien took Kyle's previous place beside Pip and rested his arm on the head on Pip's chair.

"So what are you dressing up as?"

"I-I wasn't going to…"

"But you're going to a Halloween party now, so you have to."

"I haven't even got a costume ready."

"That's alright, we'll look for something nice after school."

"But I haven't even got any money."

"Just you leave that to me," Damien smiled, "So any idea what you wanna dress up as?"

"I have no idea," Pip laughed.

"Well as long as you wear something tight, hot and black," Damien tilted his head to the side and gave Pip the puppy dog eyes.

"We'll see," Pip giggled, "What about you then? What are you dressing up as?"

"You'll see," Damien teased as he winked.

Pip smiled nervously, it was only Tuesday and it was the second time that week he had heard Damien say that. Although when he said it the day before, it didn't come with a bad result.

"Which reminds me…" Pip began to think out loud. He smiled sweetly at Damien, "Thanks for the CD."

"Do you like it?" Damien asked hopefully.

"I love it," Pip giggled, glomping his companion.

Damien smiled, "Good," he answered as he began to stroke Pip's hair.

His view shifted from Pip to the now uncovered, open file block sitting before his friend. It was opened up at a page decorated with various pink highlighter hearts and stars. In the middle of most of the hearts, Pip had seemed to write things like "Damien" and "P+D".

Damien half smiled and half smirked. However he resisted the urge to point it out to Pip that he had spotted the page, not to mention the few adorable chibis of them holding hands with hearts around their heads scattered across the page. He closed the file block stealthily so Pip wouldn't notice and gave him a light squeeze, kissing him on the forehead.

"Damien?"

"Hmm?"

Pip pulled out of Damien's embrace, but held his arms on Damien's, "How are you going to help me find a costume? Aren't you grounded?"

"That's not going to stop me."

"But your father-"

"Is a push over," Damien laughed, "Besides he probably won't be home until way after I get back. He's gonna be in Hell planning his party all week.""Wait…" Pip paused at the mention of Hell, "Where exactly _is_ the party going to be?"

"In Hell."

Pip couldn't find any more words to say. All he knew was that he couldn't go to Hell. He was a Christian, for one, and he was always taught that Hell was this extremely horrible place. But if he was going with Damien… for a party…

"Relax," Damien chimed in on his track of thought, "it's not like you're going down for any of that "eternal damnation" shit."

"Well yes but… it's _Hell._"

Damien laughed, "Don't worry, ok? I won't leave your side. You have your big strong Damien to protect you."

"My big strong Damien?" Pip giggled, "Just because you're a figure of authority."

"Same thing," Damien jested. He looked around for a second, "I'm just realising something… we're in the library."

"Oh, yeah," Pip began, getting where Damien was coming from, "Mrs Lawlers had to "see" the janitor about something, so Mr McLaughlin got landed with covering the library."

"Ooooh," Damien nodded, understanding why everyone was getting away with talking, "Well then… let's play I spy."

"Damien, I'm home!" Satan called as he shut the front door behind him.

He walked in through the living room door to find Damien sprawled out on the sofa, flicking through the channels carelessly.

"Oh, there you are. I thought you'd be in your room," Satan said as he placed all of his bulging bags down beside the door.

"What have you got there?" Damien asked, looking up from the television.

"Just my costume and a few things for the party."

"Oh alright. By the way, I'm bringing a friend."

"Your little friend Pip?" Satan smiled smugly, hoping Damien wouldn't notice.

"Yeah."

"How is he?"

"Fine, why do you ask?"

"Can't a man be curious?" Satan giggled.

"Oh sod off!" Damien rolled his eyes as he hurled a pillow at his father.

"Hey! It's not my fault, it's just cute."

Damien glared at him, "_What's_ cute?"

"You and Pip," Satan suppressed a haughty look.

"There is no "me and Pip," idiot."

"You mean you two aren't even going out? Could have fooled me."

"I'm his _friend_," Damien stressed, "I'm allowed to care for him."

"I know, I know."

Satan pulled a coat hanger out from one of the bags on the ground and held it up in front of him, revealing his costume.

"So? What do you think?" he asked eagerly.

"Gay," Damien replied bluntly without even looking up at the outfit.

"Good," Satan exclaimed, seemingly happy with his son's comment.

Damien resumed to flicking aimlessly through the channels. Satan folded his costume up and placed it back into its bag.

"So is your mystery lover gonna be there?"

"Um… yes, he is," Satan answered hesitantly.

"I don't have to meet him, do I?"

"Not if you don't want to," Satan smiled with a sense of consideration in his voice.

"Good."


	13. Chapter 13

The week flew in and before they knew it, it was the day of Halloween. Pip was in his room, getting ready and making sure he looked perfect. He had started getting ready early to give himself time before Damien showed up. He also made sure that his foster parents wouldn't be home when Damien called for him, knowing that if they were Damien would only start something.

He stood in front of the sink in his bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He picked up the small eyeliner pencil he had borrowed off Damien and contemplated actually using it.

'_Well… maybe just a little,_' he thought to himself, '_T'is the season, after all._'

Carefully, he created a thick black line under each eye and drew a short, thin line with a small spider on the end at the very left of his left eye. He then left the bathroom, skipping to his room half naked and went through his dresser drawers. After ruffling around for a few seconds, he pulled out a small black velvet case and opened it to reveal a pair of silver earrings.

He smiled to himself, thinking about the day not very long ago that Damien had bought them for him. He pushed each into either hole in his earlobes. One was in the shape of a crescent moon and the other in the shape of a star.

He then walked over to his wardrobe and opened it up, taking the rest of his costume out immediately. He giggled with anticipation and butterflies in his stomach. He couldn't wait to see what Damien thought, not to mention what Damien was wearing.

The doorbell rang just as Pip was pulling his stockings on. He hopped on one foot, nearly loosing his balance.

"I'll be down in a minute!" he yelled, hoping that whoever was at the door would hear him.

He scurried out of his room, grabbing his boots on his way and began trying to force them on as he made his way down the stairs. Passing the coat hanger, he grabbed his cape and hat and threw them on hurriedly before swinging the door open.

"Damien!" he exclaimed, surprised, "You're early."

"I wanted to see your costume," Damien stepped into the hall past Pip as if he owned the place.

He looked Pip up and down with a satisfied look on his face. Pip was wearing a puffy sleeved, off the shoulder blouse with a black clincher that hugged his waist and hips and was tied neatly with a silk orange ribbon. Below that he was wearing a pair of cute, puffy black shorts and just above his knees, showing off a small part of his delicious thighs, was a pair of yellow and orange striped socks. He wore a short pair of heavy black boots that he borrowed from Damien, on which he had replaced the laces with more orange ribbon. Around his shoulders he had hung a velvet black cape that reached just above his elbows and had a short, upturned collar, tied across Pip's collarbone with a pretty black bow. As well as his makeup, his earrings and the black spider charm bracelet he wore, to top it all off he wore a black witch hat with an orange belt and silver buckle in the middle. Its tip spiralled to a crooked point at the end, finished with a tiny, spiked ball.

Damien looked on in awe, completely lost for words.

"Wow…"

"You don't think it's too much is it? I mean the blouse is a little showy is it not? I wasn't so sure about it when you picked it out for me, but-"

"It's fine. You look great," Damien smiled.

"You always say that," Pip said before trailing off after he finally noticed that Damien was in his costume.

Pip found himself completely gob smacked. Damien wore a long black cape that ended just between his knees and his ankles, lined red on the inside. He was wearing a thin white, long, baggy sleeved shirt and tight black trousers. Pip almost swooned at how gorgeous Damien looked with his hair slicked back, sleek and sexy.

"Oh… my… _God…_" Pip managed to squeeze out.

"Just call me Damien, darling," Damien laughed, loving Pip's reaction.

"You look… amazing."

"Good," Damien smiled at his lovely partner, "that makes two of us then."

Pip smiled back, pleased that Damien liked his costume.

"Shall we?" Damien extended his hand out to Pip, who took it without hesitation.

They left the house together and began to walk through the streets, which were surprisingly less isolated than usual, with kids and toddlers walking around in groups with their decorative trick-or-treat bags. It was still early, however.

"You know…" Pip started, grabbing Damien's attention, "I thought you'd have dressed up as something a little more original and unexpected."

"Well you didn't expect me to dress as a vampire, did you?"

"Well no…" Pip admitted, understanding the point Damien was making.

"Besides, everyone knows that vampires are overrated, so no one else is going to dress up as one."

"But if it's overrated, why are you doing it?"

Damien laughed, "I'm so awesome that it doesn't matter. Besides, I'm bringin' sexy back so I might as well bring vampires back with it."

Pip giggled. The night hadn't even begun and he already knew it was going to be a great Halloween.

"So what?" he looked up at Damien, "No fake fangs?"

"Don't need them," Damien grinned, flashing his sharp white teeth and pointing to them, "I've got my own."

Pip began to pay attention to their path as they turned a corner. He looked around, thinking.

"So… how exactly do we get to Hell?"

"Well normally I'd summon up a couple of spirits to escort me through the gateway with a circle of blazing fire while they chant some praise-like hymns to me and my father to send us down through a black hole of terror and torment, filled with screaming souls of mortals and such," he turned and grinned at Pip's terrified looking expression and paused before continuing, "but seeing as my father confiscated my powers, we'll have to take the underground portal train."

Pip sighed with relief, "Oh thank God…"

"Thank Satan," Damien corrected him.

"Wait… underground portal train?"

Damien laughed, "A bit like in Harry Potter."

The massive, festive hall was already scattered with a few gossiping creatures in costume. The ceiling was hanging with fake cobwebs, decorated with plastic spiders. The walls were stone cold and broken, rusted chains hung in various spots to give it a dungeon-like feel. The two buffet tables that sat opposite each other were overflowing with sweets, treats and punch. A few waiters, wearing nothing but tight leather shorts and a bow tie, even walked back and forth, carrying pallets of a selection of delicacies.

Satan looked up from his conversation with Pope John Paul II to see Damien and Pip walking in through the massive main doors, hand in hand. Satan skipped over to them excitedly.

"Damien! Pip! You made it," he beamed, "Pip your costume is so adorable!"

"Th-thank you," Pip smiled, looking over the short, skin tight white dress that hugged Satan's figure, lined with soft, fluffy fur at the bottom. He had completed the look with shiny, light blue eye shadow, a streak of silver glitter stars on each cheek, a bright, silver halo bouncing over his natural horns and a pair of white feather wings, "Your costume is very cute too."

"Very gay," Damien rolled his eyes.

"Well sweety that's what you said before, remember?"

"Lucifer," a gentle voice came from behind Satan.

Satan spun round to see a tall man with long brown hair behind him with his arms open wide. He dived into the man's arms immediately, letting out a squeal of happiness.

"You're here!"

"I told you I would be," he smiled as he held Satan tighter.

Damien looked up sceptically at the man, who was conveniently dressed as the Phantom of the Opera.

"Ok then… well… me and Pip are gonna be over there. _Way_ over there."

Damien pulled Pip over to the other side of the room and found them a nice spot against the wall, close to one of the tables full of food where they could sit and chat.

Only an hour had passed and already the place was full of people. Music had begun to play, the lights were turned down low and a glowing green mist slowly floated slightly above the ground to give a very creepy effect.

'_At least I won't be able to see dad and his Phantom past all these people,_' Damien thought to himself.

He looked over at Pip, who looked so incredibly beautiful in the green glow of everything else his father had the place decorated with. Pip was watching everyone else dancing in their unique, creative and most likely expensive costumes.

Suddenly, the song playing switched from Marilyn Manson to Martina McBride. Damien rolled his eyes.

'_So Halloweeny,_' he thought to himself.

He looked at all the people who began to slow dance and then to Pip.

"Do you like this song?"

"It's very sweet," Pip nodded.

"Would… you like to dance?" Damien asked, smiling at Pip.

Pip blushed slightly but smiled back all the same, "O-of course."

Damien took his hands and led him into the ground, until they found a spot big enough to dance in. He stopped in front of Pip and merely stared at him for a few seconds before placing one hand on his waist and held Pip's hand in his other. He pulled him closer against his body as Pip laid his hand on Damien's shoulder. They began to move slowly, getting into the swing of the gentle beat of the music.

_All of my life_

_I have been waiting for_

_All you give to me_

Pip looked up at Damien longingly, smiling shyly at him. Damien returned the look with his entrancing eyes and Pip felt like he was going to loose all feeling in his knees and fall into Damien's arms, submitting himself completely to the sexy beast.

_You've opened my eyes_

_And showed me how to love unselfishly_

Satan's lips inched closer to his lovers, but he blocked them with his finger as he spotted Pip and Damien dancing together, lost entirely in each other's eyes. He pointed silently towards them to get his boyfriend to look over at them, biting his lip as if to suppress an adoring giggle.

Damien and Pip continued without even noticing the odd look they were getting. Some people thought it was cute, others thought it was weird. Others were surprised, thinking that Damien was too unlike his father to be gay and the rest of them somewhat expected it. Overall, however, each and every one of them thought Damien's choice was very strange.

Damien led Pip proudly through the crowd, still dancing in circles with the blushing boy. Although he paid no heed to anyone else in the room, completely absorbed in Pip's beauty, he felt confident in showing his special friend off.

_You will still have my heart until the end of time_

_You're all I need my love_

_My valentine_

The piano in the background came to a gentle stop as it faded off. Pip and Damien came to a halt themselves, their eyes still locked. Damien let go of Pip's hand and moved it down to his hip while Pip placed his now free hand on Damien's other shoulder. They both leaned in until their lips collided and were soon involved in a passionate kiss.

After holding Pip in his mouth for a few long moments, Damien's ears perked at the sound of I Want You Bad by The Offspring, which started to blast throughout the massive hall, followed by the cheers of some of the party goers.

He smirked, holding Pip back from his body slightly, "Now, I'll show you how to _really_ dance."

Pip sat on the edge of Damien's bed, buttoning up his lilac, silk pyjama top. Damien waltzed in wearing nothing but a pair of baggy pyjama bottoms. Pip looked up at him and blushed, not being able to help his eyes stopping briefly to admire Damien's sexy chest.

"Cute pyjamas," Damien remarked as he sat down beside Pip, wrapping his arm around his waist and pulled Pip against his nude torso, "It'd be just like unwrapping a Birthday present."

Pip blushed, slightly worried by this statement.

Damien merely laughed, "Don't worry," he began to stroke Pip's hair. There was a short silence as Pip relaxed against the pale, warm body and closed his eyes.

"You know…" Damien began, looking down at his friend, "I still have one piece of chocolate left from the party.

Damien lifted a small piece of wrapped up chocolate from what seemed like nowhere and began to unwrap it.

"Well if there's only one left then you can have it Damien."

"No, I want to share it."

"Alright," Pip smiled, expecting Damien to bite it in half.

Instead, Damien just held it in front of Pip's mouth.

"Open wide," he cooed.

Pip parted his lips without thinking and Damien popped the sweet, smooth chocolate into the warm, awaiting mouth.

Just as Pip began to savour the taste, Damien got on top of him and pushed him back down onto the bed, sliding his tongue into Pip's mouth after the chocolate. They made out intensely for a while, the chocolate melting in the warmth of their wet tongues. Damien closed their mouths tightly together and forcefully lapped up the rest of the chocolate from Pip's tongue.

Damien slipped his hands beneath Pip's top and started to rub them up and down against his soft skin. Pip tried to pull his head back to part the kiss, but he was already lying back against the mattress so he turned his head to the side instead.

"What's wrong?" Damien looked down at him concerned.

"N-nothing… I just feel like maybe we shouldn't be doing this."

"Doing what?" Damien continued to rub Pip's sides, comforting him, "We're just kissing."

"Alright," Pip wrapped his arms around Damien's neck, who slid down onto the bed beside Pip and held him close.

He planted a single kiss on his lips and looked into Pip's calming eyes, running his fingers through his sea of golden hair.

"You had fun, didn't you?"

"Oodles," Pip giggled, rubbing his nose lightly against Damien's.

"Well the night is still young and it's still Halloween," Damien grinned, sitting up and walking over to his bedside table.

Pip sat up and watched, trying to see what he was getting. Damien stalked his way back to the other side of the bed and sat beside Pip.

"How about we watch…" he pulled a DVD case from behind his back, "The Exorcist?"

Pip cringed, "U-umm…"

"Followed by The Grudge," Damien continued, "and then The Blair Witch Project if we have time."

"I uh…"

"Great!" Damien exclaimed as he walked over to the TV.

Pip panicked, "Damien!"

Damien turned around innocently, "What?"

"Are you trying to scare me to death?"

"Aww," Damien smirked, "Does my little Pip not like scary movies?"

"I-I can just read while you watch them… or better yet I can go sit in the other room and-"

Damien plonked himself against the headboard and pulled Pip back with him, setting him across his lap.

"If you get scared you can hold on to me until I say it's ok to look," he stroked Pip's hair reassuringly, "and I won't try to trick you. I promise."

Pip nestled his face into the warmth of Damien's neck, smiling pleasantly.

"Well… ok," he rested one hand behind Damien and the other against his still bare chest, "but only because I trust you," he smiled.


	14. Chapter 14

Pip looked ahead as he made his way to his locker. The hallways were beginning to clear and most people were in class. It was cold and quiet, because someone had left the huge, double doors open and today was a particularly windy day in South Park.

Pip sighed in relief as he made it to his locker and pushed his PE bag inside. His cheeks were red from exhaustion. Mr Euings had decided to "make up for the few weeks of girly training" with some brutal "man-power exercises." Luckily, he had to leave class early to go to the soccer match and so the rest of the class had piled outside for some fresh air, apart from the unfortunate few who had to go with Mr Euings because they were on the team.

Pip on the other hand had taken his time, wanting to get rid of his burden of a bag first. He hadn't seen where Damien went, but felt that he had found him when he felt a light tap upon his shoulder.

He turned around expecting to see his dark prince, but instead got quite a surprise.

"Pocket!"

"Hello there Pip, ol' chap," the repulsive-looking ginger smiled, his buckteeth consuming his entire face.

"What on earth are you doing here?"

"Why I'm a part of the exchange programme of course! To be honest I wasn't terribly interested when I first heard about it, but the very second I heard South Park being mentioned, I _knew_ it was a fantastic idea!"

Pip smiled, "It sounds fantastic. Do you like South Park so far then?"

"Not at all!" Pocket exclaimed merrily, "I only really came because I knew you'd be here. Of course now it's going to be a great stay."

Pip went to speak, but Pocket lunged himself at him with a tight and forceful hug. After a few seconds of surprise and near-suffocation, they heard someone clearing their thought irritably behind them. Pip pulled back slightly and Pocket turned his head, still holding onto the small blonde, looking to see who dared spoil his pleasantly intimate moment with the very desirable boy.

"Damien," Pip smiled.

Pocket released him hesitantly, staring at the Prince of Darkness, who glared back at him with his arms folded defensively across his chest, peering from behind his thick black hair.

"Damien this is my good friend, Pocket. Pocket this is Damien; my best friend."

Damien said nothing and continued to glare darkly at the ugly freckle-faced boy.

"Pocket is a part of the exchange programme. I haven't seen him since I left England. Isn't it just fantastic that he's here?" Pip beamed.

Pocket smiled, his teeth seeming all the bigger as his gums were exposed.

"Charmed I'm sure," he shook Damien's idle hand in an overly friendly manner, "How lucky you are to be a best friend of Pip. Very lucky indeed!"

Damien looked at him strangely, "Yeah, I am…" he pulled his hand from Pocket's sweaty grip.

"Oh but I'm sure now you'll be having quite a bit of competition, eh ol' chap?"

Pocket wrapped his arm around Pip's waist and pressed their cheeks together in jest. Pip merely smiled shyly. Damien gritted his teeth, holding himself back from barking out at the clueless ginger and startling Pip.

"Come on," he growled.

"Huh?"

"We need to get to the library, Pip," Damien urged.

"W-why?"

Damien grabbed Pip's arm and pulled him from Pocket's hold. Pip fell against Damien's body, who wrapped his arms around him protectively, pulling him closer to him.

"Just. Now come on."

Pip looked at Pocket considerately, "O-ok. Would you like to come, Pocket?"

"No!" Damien found himself exclaiming.

Pip looked up at him confused. Damien struggled to figure out what to say next.

"He… he probably needs to go to class and find out where the rest of his classes are and stuff."

"Well ok," Pip paused as Damien started to walk away, dragging him with him, "Um ch-cheerio then, Pocket."

"Cheerio."

Pocket watched as the couple walked away. Damien looked back at him, shooting icy daggers at him with his eyes. Pocket shot back at him with a dirty look. Damien turned back to look ahead, almost shocked.

'_Perhaps this one's more of an annoyance than I thought…_'

"And _that's_ why everyone thought I died of Hepatitis B!"

Damien sat almost bored to tears in the cafeteria. For over 35 minutes he had been forced to listen to Pocket rambling on and on about "the Hunt" and Prince Charles, tea with the Queen and saving a squirrel's life. He lifted his heavy head to look at Pip, who seemed lively and interested, yet a little dazed.

Pip sat in between the two with his lunchbox opened before him. He hadn't even noticed that Damien had stolen his chicken sandwiches.

Pocket on the other hand had a school lunch, which he seemed to be enjoying thoroughly. Damien cringed at the sight of the dark green piece of lettuce stuck in between Pocket's massive teeth.

"How exciting!" Pip clasped his hands together.

Pocket looked down at him with a wanting smile, pleased that he was amusing the sweet angel.

"My how you've grown, Pip. They always say that such cute creatures become absolutely stunning when they begin to mature."

"Ahem," Damien butted in before Pocket could say any more.

Pip turned his attention to the awaiting demon questionably.

"Piiiiip," Damien whined, "it's been ages since you last hugged me. I'm feeling lonely."

Pip giggled at the beast who pouted, letting his bottom lip quiver.

"I'm sorry, Damien. How could I forget?"

Pip dived onto Damien with a tight hug. Damien returned the warmth and pulled Pip closer, sliding him off of his chair slightly so he had to lean against Damien's body. Damien flashed Pocket a greedy grin as the redhead watched enviously.

Pip squealed as Damien nuzzled his ticklish neck, squirming giddishly. He had almost forgotten about his British friend. He didn't even realise how excluded he must feel, because Pip had grown so used to him and Damien having each other all to themselves.

"Pip?" Pocket finally uttered impatiently.

"Hm?" Pip turned himself around to look at Pocket, resulting in having to place his bottom lightly on Damien's knee.

"I don't mean to sound rude, but people are staring at you right now."

"Oh," Pip looked around at the scatter of turned heads. He shrugged his shoulders, "Well that's alright. I don't mind."

"We don't _care_ what other people think," Damien tightened his grip around Pip.

Pocket looked away angered, which caused Damien to let out a low chuckle. Pocket attempted a growl, which came out as more of a gag than anything.

"Are you ok, Pocket?" Pip asked politely.

Pocket cleared his throat as his acne infested cheeks grew red, "Quite alright, Pip ol' chap."

The bell rang.

"Oh," Pip began as he sat up from Damien's lap, "Time for class."

Damien watched with a smug smile hidden behind his admiring expression as he watched Pip gather his rubbish and close up his lunchbox. He noticed Pocket glaring at him and returned the look cheekily before getting up and grabbing his schoolbag, waiting for Pip to finish gathering his things.

"Pip, wouldn't it be such a smashing idea for you to come to my house for a little bit?"

"It would," Pip smiled, delighted by the idea, "Both me _and_ Damien could come along."

"I'm not going _there,_" Damien answered.

"He's not invited."

Pip looked at Pocket hurt. They were walking home after school. They being Pocket and Pip, Pip and Damien. Although it was not a part of Damien's plan that Pocket should join them.

"What I mean is…" Pocket dragged out nervously, "Umm I'm not allowed too many friends over and because you're my better friend, I'm inviting _you._"

"Well that's not very nice," Pip frowned.

"Yeah," Damien joined in without a care, "Let's go."

Damien tugged at Pip's arm, trying to get him away from the creepy kid with a funny name.

"But Pip, he doesn't even want to come!"

"You're right. I don't."

"Then it's alright. No hard feelings between me and Damien, right ol' chap?" he flashed a toothy fake smile to Satan's son, who didn't respond with kindly words, let alone a kindly expression.

"Well, if you're sure…" Pip trailed off, unsure of the situation. He thought twice about asking Damien for permission.

'_He's my friend, not my master,_' Pip thought.

"Ok then," he smiled at Pocket and then at Damien, "I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, see ya," Damien smiled, masking his anger.

Pocket and Pip walked off together and Damien watched carefully.

Pip and Pocket sat on the soft rug of Pocket's bedroom floor against the bed. Mozart was playing from the CD player and the two of them merely sat in silence, enjoying the sweet sound of the 18th century.

Pocket stared at his companion adoringly. After a few minutes, he lifted his hand up from the ground and placed it on Pip's, who looked up at him confused.

"You know Pip…" Pocket began, "I've never met a boy with even such a delightful presence as you."

Pip said nothing, unsure of what to do or what to make of the situation. Pocket squeezed Pip's hand lightly.

"And I never fell for a boy as hard as I fell for you all those years ago" Pocket hushed as he leaned in towards Pip.

Pip understood immediately the position he was in now because he had been in it so many times with Damien. The only difference was that Pip felt extreme discomfort this time. A feeling he had never experienced with Damien.

"N-no," he uttered as he turned away, shutting his eyes.

Pocket paused and gave Pip a hurt frown, "What is it?"

"I can't… I can't do this Pocket."

"I knew it!" Pocket raged. Pip watched, slightly frightened.

"You're going out with that monster, aren't you?"

"M-monster?"

"Damien!"

"Damien isn't a monster," Pip protested.

Pocket sat up infuriated, "What does it matter? Pip why in God's name are you allowing yourself to become an item with such a beast?"

Pip blushed, "We… we aren't…"

"You aren't?"

"N-no…"

"So why the Hell are you waiting around for him?"

Pip went silent. He couldn't even look at Pocket now.

"Pip you know I can treat you far better than he ever could," Pocket inched closer to Pip on his knees, towering over him, "Don't let yourself make some horrible mistake."

Pip felt so confused. Why wasn't Pocket acting like his usual self? Even Damien wasn't acting like himself all day. Everything seemed so wrong.

'_What am I to say? I don't want to hurt his feelings…_' Pip thought frantically, aware of Pocket's growing impatience for a response.

"Pocket… I-I'm not making any horrible mistake. Damien is my friend."

"And I am?"

"My other friend."

'_Other friend?_' Pocket thought as he stopped in a track of thought.

Pip looked up at him with guilt, '_Perhaps I chose the wrong words…_'

Damien trudged home in the howling wind. It hadn't been long after he had left his Pip in the hands of another man, something which he had grown regretful of.

'_How dare he? How dare that cock sucking piece of shit think he can have Pip? He isn't the one who protects him. I've always been there for Pip. Where has he been? In England or Wales or some dump like that! I don't see what Pip even sees in the wanker._'

He eventually came to his front door and created a noisy mess, trying to find his keys. When he finally did, he swung the door open roughly.

"Dad I'm home!" he called out, knowing his father would be home.

There was no answer as Damien closed the door behind him, threw his schoolbag into the hall, hung up his blazer and placed his keys down onto the table.

He looked upstairs, calling out again, "Dad?"

No answer came. The house was completely silent. Damien began to make his way to the living room door, which was shut. As he turned the handle and slowly opened the door, he tried again.

"Dad?"

No sooner than he entered the room did he find his father. Satan was shirtless, wearing an extremely tight pair of black jeans. He was kneeling over a pale, brown haired man on the sofa who appeared to be also shirtless. Satan pulled away immediately from his tongue wrestling with the man, startled.

"Damien!"

"Dad!"

The man's head spun around and his eyes met Damien's. All at once, Damien realised to his horror who his father's secret lover was.

"Jesus Christ!"


	15. Chapter 15

"How the fuck could you?"

"Sweetheart I'm sorry! I was going to tell you."

"What does it matter?" Damien protested, "You're shagging the enemy!"

"But baby he's _not_ my enemy."

"His father is the reason you lost your job. I don't care if that made you the King of the Underworld; I prefer it to you prancing about like a poofy little angel but have some fucking dignity!"

"Damien… me and Jesus… we've been together for longer than you think."

Damien stood still for the first time since he walked in on his father snuggling with the Son of God. He said nothing, allowing Satan to continue.

"Long ago, when Jesus was only born, I was God's top angel. But you know that. What happened was that when Mary went out partying and Joseph was doing his part by building brothels, Mary would send Jesus to stay with God. But God was always busy and so he assigned me as Jesus' personal babysitter."

Damien kept silent, listening carefully.

"And I got to watch this adorable little boy turn into a handsome young man and as he grew up, we both developed feelings for each other… But one day, when Jesus was about 17, God walked in on us and, well… he banished me to Hell."

"… You fucking sicko," Damien breathed.

"Damien don't…"

"What is wrong with you?"

"Honey you don't understand! We were in love and we still are!"

"Oh I understand just fine! _You're_ going out with the man who's the complete reason as to why I can never be with Pip!"

Satan blinked, "What do you mean?"

"Just leave me alone," Damien growled as he turned to leave.

"Damien…" Satan reached out to him before Damien stomped off in a rage.

"I said leave me the fuck alone!"

Pocket's room was quiet. Pip felt nervous and unsure of what to do as he watched Pocket pace back and forth in the room. He had never seen him like this before. It was a while since any words were exchanged between the two, until Pocket finally spoke.

"Pip…"

Pip looked up, trembling slightly.

"What were you thinking?"

"What do you mean Pocket?"

"What were you thinking when you looked at him and thought that anything good could come of it?"

"I… I was thinking that something good could come of it?"

Pocket sighed. Pip looked down at the ground with guilt. He felt bad for upsetting his friend, but it wasn't really his fault.

"How could you?"

"How could I-"

"How could you ever be with him?" Pocket yelled.

Pip froze, frightened by Pocket's sudden outburst. Pocket stopped for a moment and then walked over to his bed which Pip still sat against. He sat down at the very edge so that he didn't have to look at Pip. Pip looked ahead in silence.

"You're… going to Hell. You do realise that, don't you?"

Pip didn't answer, but thought about it carefully. To his gradual horror, he realised that Pocket was right. He was going to Hell.

"I thought you were a Catholic."

"I-I am," Pip squeaked.

"One little thing spoils it all, doesn't it Pip? You spend your whole life being a good Christian and devoting your life to God and yet _he_ just put that all to waste."

"I…"

"Pip," Pocket looked down at the blonde bob to his right, but Pip didn't notice and didn't return the glance, "All you have to do is repent."

Pip looked up at him, almost confused.

"I can take you to the chapel now," Pocket's eyes began to shine and he sounded eager, almost smiling, "You can confess to God and be forgiven. That's all it takes."

"That's all?"

"Well…"

"Well?" Pip inquired doubtfully.

"When one confesses to say, a murder, one must also never commit murder again. You confess to realise you have done wrong and never do it again."

"So you're saying I can't be with Damien again?"

"Or speak to him or talk to him or even acknowledge him," Pocket added.

"Pocket I… I don't think I can."

Pocket slid down beside Pip to look him in the eyes reassuringly, "It's easy Pip, honestly. Won't you at least try?"

Pip looked away from Pocket, unsure of what to do.

"Pip… it will save your soul."

Pip watched as Pocket stood to his feet and extended a hand to Pip. Pip stared at it mindlessly for a few seconds before Pocket reminded him to make up his mind.

"At least try."

Pip reluctantly placed his hand in Pocket's and stood up from the floor with a subtle frown.

"Stupid fucking Christianity," Damien muttered to himself.

It was dark and all the lights in his room were out. The window and curtains were closed shut as well as the door. It was quiet apart from his dark, cold voice that travelled through the still air. His black-clad body was pushed against the headboard of his bed with his legs pulled tight against his chest and his arms wrapped firmly around his knees. The blankets and pillows were on the floor or hanging off the bed as a result of Damien throwing the covers out of the way. He had even pushed his large dresser in front of the door just in case his father wanted to talk to him.

"Why does Pip have to be how he is? I mean… if he wasn't, he wouldn't be Pip and I like Pip how he is, but…" he sighed, "I don't know."

He looked up at the blank ceiling and thought about Pip.

"And now he's with that ginger piece of shit… imagine what I'll be like when he's with the big shit up there?"

He let out another long sigh, tucking his chin behind his folded arms.

"How did I get myself into this? Stupid Pip, why does he have to be so… so perfect?"

Damien threw his head back until it lay against the hard wood behind him.

"I always knew it was nothing but trouble, that it causes more hurt than happiness, especially for people like me. But I always told myself that it would never happen to me, that it never could."

He stopped for a moment, listening to the sound of his heart beat. It was strange for even Damien to think that he even had one.

"Now… I don't even want to let it go, let _Pip_ go. In the end I won't even have a choice."

Pip waited anxiously outside the confession box. He was on his own, with Pocket inside talking to the priest. He had made a deal with Pip that he would go in first to make Pip feel a little less worried. Pip wondered what Pocket might be confessing.

'_He could be confessing for liking another boy, perhaps,_' Pip paused for a moment, '_Oh yeah… that's wrong too. Oh great. Well… I just have to confess for it all this once and never do it again…_'

The confession box door clicked open and Pocket stepped out with a sympathetic smile.

"It's all yours, ol' chap."

"A-alright…" Pip almost whispered.

Pocket stopped Pip as he began to slowly make his way into the box, "Don't worry about it, you'll be fine."

Pocket placed a light kiss on Pip's cheek. Pip said nothing, holding himself back from pulling away so as not to offend him, and looked on ahead. He continued to walk into the confession box and close the door behind him.

He was in darkness now, his eyes slowly adjusting and able to pick out the thin, wire-framed window that separated Pip from the priest.

"Good evening, my child."

"H-hello Father."

"Are you ready to begin?"

"Y-yes… um, bless me Father for I have sinned…"

Pip fiddled with his fingers hopelessly. Outside, Pocket had his ear pressed firmly against the door, mutually urging Pip to hurry.

"T-these are my… my sins…"

Pip paused again. Every word seemed like a struggle for him to say. He couldn't think straight. His heart began to beat faster and faster and he felt flushed.

"I…"

'_Come on Pip, you can do it,_' Pocket thought.

'_Oh hurry up kid, I have a religiously doubtful nun waiting for me to take advantage of the opportunity and I'm not missing out on it!_' the priest behind the wall rolled his eyes.

"I… I'm in love," Pip cried.

He pushed the door open immediately and dashed out of the church. Pocket called out to him, but Pip couldn't hear him. Nor could he see very well in front of him. He merely went by instinct without any other thought in his head.

Father Maxi emerged from the other confession box door and stepped to Pocket's side.

"Faggot."

Pocket looked up at him almost confused.

"Well, I'm off. At least one of us has a chance of getting laid tonight."

Pip's legs tirelessly carried him along the bitter cold streets. His teeth held on to his bottom lip forcefully as he held in any noise he may have made. He didn't know where he was going or why he was going there, he didn't know anything at this minute in time. He didn't even realise that he was running faster than he even thought he could. It was all just a blur to him.

Before he knew it, he found himself at a dark and familiar front door. He swung the heavy doorknocker a few times, trying not to let his absentmindedness get the better of him and result in him disturbing anybody. He didn't even think about who he would be disturbing; he was still confused.

The door began to open and the second Pip saw Damien's bored face turn surprised, he threw himself against him and cried into Damien's chest.

"Pip?"

Pip's sense of reason flooded back to him as he sobbed helplessly against the concerned demon. Damien wrapped his arms around Pip and nuzzled against Pip's soft hair, inhaling the sweet aroma.

"Sssh…"

Pip sniffed, rubbing his cheek against the comfortable material of Damien's hoody.

"It's ok… I've got you."


	16. Chapter 16

Damien glanced down at the young boy lying on the bed next to him. He slowly placed his hand gently upon the soft blonde hair and let out a sigh.

Pip had somehow cried himself to sleep.

'_It must be some sort of system shutdown mode he goes into when he's overly distressed,_' Damien thought as he remembered carrying the small bodied Pip into his bedroom.

"I didn't even get to ask what all that crying was about," he mumbled to himself.

Gradually, he shifted Pip's body into a lifting position and brought him up onto his lap, laying him against his body. He caressed Pip's body lovingly as if to cherish him before placing a tiny kiss on his warm forehead.

Pip stirred slightly, but it seemed more like he was snuggling deeper into the comfort that surrounded him rather than being disturbed from his sleep. He made a content, muffled sigh and relaxed all of his muscles as if to give in to the will of the devil that held him.

Damien smiled to himself. This was perfect. Well… it was almost perfect, had Damien not known that his happiness, _their_ happiness, would never last.

He tightened his grip on Pip possessively. He never wanted to let go. He knew there would never be anyone else in the world who could ever fill that specially reserved place in his heart like Pip did. He knew it would be somewhat better to let go now, at least for Pip it was. But he knew that he never could. For someone who had grown so used to the concept of eternity, he couldn't even fathom the thought of only being able to be with Pip for his life time.

Death had never affected Damien before, but he was well aware that when Pip's time came he would know all about it, just like any mortal.

Pip's eyes eased open in a daze. He looked up slightly, but he didn't need to to realise where he was or who he was with.

"Damien?" he whispered, still feeling sleepy.

"Hm?" Damien looked down, his eyes almost meeting Pip's. He sounded pleasantly surprised, however, because he was not aware that Pip had awakened.

"Hello."

Damien laughed, "Hi. How are you feeling?"

"Good," Pip mumbled as he snuggled deeper into Damien's chest.

Damien began to run his fingers through the shining blonde locks. He smiled as Pip clung to his shirt with tiny clenched fists in a needing manner.

"That's good. What was all that crying about then?"

Pip blushed, although Damien couldn't tell because his face was embedded in the soft material of his t-shirt.

"Come on then, tell me. I've been waiting to hear all about it," Damien joked.

"But I'm better now," Pip reluctantly muttered.

Damien stroked Pip's back comfortingly, "Well that's better. Stay that way, ok?"

"Mmhmm," Pip drifted off.

There was a long space of silence between the two. Pip merely enjoyed the moment while Damien found himself lost in deep thought. Finally, he spoke.

"Pip?"

He propped Pip up slightly so that they were at eyelevel, using his arms to support Pip's back.

"Yes Damien?"

"My… my father's going out with Jesus."

"He is? Oh how wonderful!" Pip clasped his hands together merrily.

"Yeah," Damien rolled his eyes, "Fucking wonderful."

Pip stopped to look into Damien's eyes, "Oh… I'm sorry. You aren't too pleased about that at all, are you?"

"What do _you_ think?"

Pip wrapped his arms around Damien's neck, "Well Jesus makes him happy, doesn't he?"

"That's not the point, Pip."

"He makes your father feel special and loved. Everyone in the world has a favourite person, but not everyone _is_ someone else's favourite person. Just knowing that someone favours you over everyone else can be the most amazing feeling in the world."

Damien looked at Pip quizzically, "Aren't you getting a little carried away with your hopeless romance? It's not always like that, you know."

"I know," Pip giggled as he placed a light kiss on the tip of Damien's nose, "but you're _my_ favourite person."

Damien couldn't resist a smile before pulling Pip in closer and planting a kiss on his lips. It wasn't long before the kiss had become deep and passionate. It had been so long since Damien had felt the sensation of the warm inside of Pip's wet mouth. He felt himself wanting even more of the young boy, tightening his hold around Pip's small waist.

They eventually parted at a snail's pace with heavy lids and red cheeks. They gazed at each other tenderly for a moment, completely lost.

"You're my favourite person, Pip."

Pip smiled sweetly and rested his head on Damien's shoulder, closing his eyes and shifting slightly into a more relaxing position.

Damien laughed, "Hey now you better not fall asleep again."

Pip giggled and pretended to snore. Damien jabbed him lightly in the ribs, causing him to jump up and squeal.

"Damien!" Pip scolded, covering up his sides as well as he could in case Damien decided to strike again or even worse, attack him with an onslaught of pokes.

"Oh shut up and kiss me you silly little Brit."

Damien placed his hand on the back of Pip's head and brought their lips together for one more zealous kiss. He slipped Pip off of his lap and onto the bed beside him before they both slid down onto the bed in a lying position. Damien rolled over on top of Pip so that their chests were pressed firmly together, however careful not to put too much weight onto the delicate and fragile little flower.

Pip pressed his arms against Damien's back to keep him as close as possible. Their lips meshed together tightly as their tongues slid around each other hotly. Damien began to rub Pip's thigh, drawing more heat out of the vulnerable boy. He refrained from the kiss slightly, taking time to nibble at Pip's bottom lip and listen to him groan. He nipped it lightly before resuming the wet embrace and pulling Pip's pelvis against his own, his hands gripping firmly on his ass.

"D-Damien…" Pip moaned.

He began to squirm slightly under the devil's touch, but didn't make any attempt to end the kiss he was so thoroughly enjoying. Damien smirked against Pip's lips, taking pleasure in every little reaction he derived from the helpless blonde.

"Damien…"

"Damien! Slow down!" Pip called as Damien rushed ahead of him up over the snowy hills.

Damien ran back towards Pip and grabbed his hand, heading back up without stopping once.

"Damien!"

It was a warm Saturday and South Park was nearing the evening. Pip had spent the night with Damien again and so he had been unwillingly dressed up in Damien's usual attire. Again.

With a black leather dog collar lined with silver studs that Pip was still trying to get used to wrapped around his neck and another pair of heavy black boots, Pip was finding it rather difficult to run, let alone breathe. He pulled his hand from Damien's grip and squatted slightly. Pressing his hands just above his knees, he gasped for breath.

Damien stopped to watch the exhausted boy and stepped over to him.

"It's only a little farther."

"I-I'll just stay here. You go on up."

Damien looked down at Pip pleadingly, "But I want to show you something."

Pip sighed breathlessly. Damien smiled and turned his back on the boy, bending over.

"Jump on," he commanded.

Pip almost giggled, "Damien you don't have to give me a piggyback ride all the way up there."

"Hurry up," Damien seemed to have completely ignored Pip's protesting, "we haven't got much time."

Silently, Pip obeyed. He climbed gingerly onto Damien's back, wrapping his arms around his neck as Damien stood, locking his own arms under Pip's tightly jean-clad thighs.

They started up the rest of the mountain, or rather Damien did. In fact he seemed almost as quick as he was without Pip on his back, despite the fact that he had began to walk with caution, keeping in mind that he now was carrying the precious boy.

Pip rested his chin on Damien's shoulder and relaxed in the evening air. It wasn't long before Damien had stopped and Pip realised that his eyes weren't even open.

When he did look up, he saw that they were in a beautiful glade. The grass of the mountain was padded with a thin layer of snow. It certainly wasn't quite as thick as one might think.

'_Perhaps it's because the sun's heat gets to the snow here first,_' Pip thought as Damien placed him gently onto his feet with great ease.

Pip watched as Damien walked towards a large grey rock. He glanced over at Pip as if to beckon to him. Pip stepped closer shyly and Damien wiped some snow off of the rock with his bare hand. He then unzipped his thick, black and red jacket and spread it out onto the rock. He plonked himself down next to the jacket on the rough, rocky surface and patted it invitingly, gazing at Pip alluringly.

Pip sat down onto the jacket and scooted closer to Damien until he was almost on top of him. Damien laughed and swung an arm around Pip, bringing him even closer still.

"So… you didn't mention what happened to that ginger kid."

"Oh…" Pip blushed, "W-well nothing did really."

"Then why is it that after spending time with him you come running to me in tears?" Damien's expression grew much more serious now.

Pip looked away, still blushing. Damien brought his face back in his direction so that their eyes would meet again.

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing!"

"Then what happened?" Damien become less harsh with the boy and sounded much more concerned.

"He just sort of… thinks he loves me."

Damien looked at Pip with a new sense of growing curiosity in his voice, "Does that sort of thing creep you out?"

"Well no… it's not that. It's just that I feel so bad. I mean I don't love him back, but he's my friend. I don't think I ever could love him either. You can only love one person in your life time and Pocket already knows…"

"Knows what?" Damien tried to sound pleasant so as not to put pressure on the boy as he trailed off.

Pip said nothing for a few seconds before continuing with a sigh, as though he did answer Damien's question, "But he doesn't like you very much. I don't see why. I suppose it doesn't help a lot. He tried to get me to repent you. He says that I'll go to Hell if I don't."

Damien said nothing, shaking his head subtly as he looked out at the fading sky.

"But I don't want to repent you, Damien. I don't. I'm trying my best to be a good friend to the both of you, but it's just so hard when-"

"Pip… don't listen to that asshole. He's just jealous," Pip watched Damien as he spoke to him calmly, looking out at the sky, "You're not going to Hell. You're going to Heaven. I know you are. What better person to trust on the matter, eh?"

Pip tilted his head to the side at Damien's seemingly sad expression. Damien shot the boy a glance from the corner of his eye before resuming his gaze onto the sky. The sun was nearing the point of safety behind the out-of-reach mountains in the far-off distance.

"Look," Damien indicated towards the sun, grabbing Pip's attention, "the sun is setting."

Pip snuggled in against Damien's body, who wrapped his arms around his friend lovingly. They both stared out at the streak of warm colours spreading across the sky like watercolours from the smooth tip of an artist's paintbrush, mixing with the already blue tablet.

Their cheeks were pressed together firmly and Pip resisted the urge to close his eyes, taking in the warmth, the sight and Damien's intoxicating scent.

It was almost strange for Pip to think of it, although Damien was well aware of it himself, that this was actually quite romantic.


	17. Chapter 17

"I love you."

Pip looked back into the shining eyes before him. He didn't move, but instead watched the strangely face. Pip felt as though he was putting on a show, but all he got in return was a look of helpless confusion, much like what he was feeling now.

Pip composed himself and tried again.

"I… love you."

The expected silence threw Pip off course and lost for words, even though he didn't even think ahead of where to go after that.

"No? I love you," Pip echoed again with new choice of emphasis and tone, almost questionable in his certain statement.

He let out a long sigh and turned his back on his bedroom mirror, sliding down onto the ground.

"It's hopeless!" he whined.

He stopped in his self pity for a moment, enduring the silence around him and curling up into a defenceless ball.

'_Maybe this is just how Pocket feels…_'

From downstairs, Pip could hear heavy footsteps trudging into the kitchen, followed by the light switch clicking on and cupboards being opened and closed hastily. Someone was on the prowl for alcohol; Pip knew it all too well. But the disrupting sounds didn't bother him in the slightest because he had grown so used to it and so he continued his track of thought.

'_Because… Damien would never love me. He cares about me; I'm more than lucky for that. I'm just… just being selfish._'

Pip's eyes began to water and he hid his face in his folded arms.

"I won't cry…" he whimpered quietly, "Damien hates it when I cry."

But his tears spilled over and slid down his cheeks. He sniffed away at his now runny nose and rubbed his wet cheeks dry with the sleeve of his old jumper so roughly that they had grown slightly red with the friction.

"He doesn't…"

More disturbing noises came from downstairs. All Pip could hear was the muffled yells of a gruff sounding man and the loud screeching of a woman's retaliation. Although he couldn't quite make out what they were saying, he could easily pick out various common profanities along with the usual insults, arguments and slurred verbal abuse that was swaying back and forth aimlessly.

Pip was about to break down into tears when he heard a light tap at his window. His eyes locked onto the window, he stood up from the ground and stepped over to it cautiously. He stopped as he got within reach of the window and waited for a few moments. Nothing happened and it was completely silent.

Suddenly a much louder knock rattled through the window. Pip jumped, startled at the sudden sound. After taking a deep breath to tame his racing heart, he pulled back the curtains quickly and almost squealed.

"Damien!"

The pale boy outside placed a finger before his lips, indicating for Pip to be quiet. When he saw that Pip had obeyed him, he then tapped at the bottom of the outside frame of the window.

"Oh! I'm sorry," Pip whispered as he realised what Damien wanted him to do.

He unlatched the window immediately and pushed it upwards in order to open it. A gust of freezing air flew threw and caught Pip off guard as he shivered violently. He waited for Damien to climb on in out of the cold so that Pip could close the window already, but instead Damien grabbed his hand.

"Come on."

"Huh?"

"Come on," Damien urged impatiently as he tugged lightly on Pip's soft hand, "_Now._"

"B-but Damien I can't leave out the window! I could just as easily get out the front door if you would just-"

"No!"

Pip blinked at Damien's strange behaviour. Damien sighed.

"Look just come here," Damien pulled Pip towards the window, "I've got you. All you have to do is come out here, keep still and I'll carry you to the bottom."

Pip looked down at the ground outside, then to he and Damien's intertwined fingers and then to Damien's eyes.

"I… I don't know…"

"It's ok," Damien smiled reassuringly, "You can trust me."

Pip smiled back, feeling slightly more relaxed now.

"But we have to hurry," Damien reminded him, "Now come on."

Pip sat down on the window ledge and gradually eased his legs out into the open, his hand still grasped within Damien's. He slid down against Damien's body, who then took his hand from Pip's and placed his arm underneath Pip, giving his bottom some support so that he wouldn't fall from his arms.

Pip clung on to Damien for dear life, wrapping his arms tight around his neck. He gripped desperately onto Damien's t-shirt with his clenched hands and wrapped his legs around Damien's waist.

Pip squeaked as he felt Damien begin to climb down the outside of the house. He shut his eyes and buried his face deep into Damien's warm neck. He felt his entire body tense up with fear.

Soon, the motion had stopped and he felt two hands being placed comfortingly on either shoulder. He looked up to see Damien smiling affectionately down at him. They were on the ground.

Pip cringed as he realised that his legs were still wrapped firmly around Damien. He moved them out of place, stepping down onto the ground. He looked away from Damien, completely mortified.

Damien placed a soft kiss onto the blushing blonde's forehead.

"Come on," he whispered, taking Pip's hand as he began to make his way out of Pip's back yard.

As he helped Pip over the white picket fence, pushing him up by his arse, he looked back at the house. A strange, inhumane-looking figure lurked through one of the rooms as Damien could see through a glowing window.

He smirked to himself, '_Feed, my pretties. Feed._'

Damien's living room was quiet and dark. The only sound echoing through the cosy room was the sparking of the embers that rose energetically from the fire, dancing and twirling in order to revive them from the frosty cold they had just escaped from. The fire produced the only light in the whole room that glowed across their pale faces and illuminated them with its warmth.

Pip and Damien sat but an inch apart with Damien sprawled out on one end of the sofa and Pip tucked up restlessly on the other.

Pip looked up into the uncaring boy's expressionless and tamed red eyes.

"Am I staying tonight, then?"

"Yeah."

"Are you still grounded?"

Damien laughed, "Yeah but don't worry about that. It's all being taken care of."

"W-what do you mean?" Pip asked hesitantly.

Damien stretched his arm out towards Pip in order to stroke his hair. He looked down at the boy with compassion.

"Don't you worry about that."

Pip looked nervously at him, "You know every time you say that I always end up worrying. And within good reason."

Damien shifted closer to Pip and hung his arm around his shoulder, "Calm down ok? I'm just making life a whole lot easier for you."

Pip paused, almost horrified with realisation, "What are you going to do to them?"

Damien sighed, "Pip…"

"No!" Pip pulled himself away from Damien and stood before him, "No Damien. You're _not_ killing because of me again."

Damien stood up with him, trying to calm him down, "I'm not killing _because_ of you, Pip. I'm killing _for_ you."

"What difference does it make? It will always be on my conscience!"

Damien stepped closer to the flustered boy and embraced him with a comforting hug. He ran his long fingers through the soft blonde hair in a lulling fashion and hushed for him to relax.

"What… what am I supposed to do, Damien?" Pip finally breathed.

"What do you mean?" Damien mumbled back in his ear.

"I can't live on my own," Pip buried his face into the nape of Damien's neck, "I'll get sent back to the orphanage."

"Don't be stupid," Damien pulled away slightly from Pip so that he could look into his eyes with his hands placed on his hips, "You'll be staying with me. Forever."

Pip smiled and a faint pink glow rose to his cheeks. He shook it off however in a state of doubt.

"Damien your father will just think you're trying to kidnap me again."

"He'll know whether they're dead or not and whatever he believes the reason for that may be, he won't be able to say no. He's fond of you."

"I don't want to be a bother… besides you don't even have a spare bedroom. Where would I sleep?"

"You haven't got a problem with sleeping with _me,_ have you?" Damien pouted sadly at Pip.

Pip blushed, "N-no but that's just for sleepovers."

"And now it'll be for all the time," Damien smiled, "I'd like that very much, wouldn't you?"

"I would," Pip admitted.

Damien watched Pip for a moment, "Why?" he tested.

"I-I…" Pip's cheeks grew red almost instantly.

Damien smiled at how jittery Pip had gotten. It was somewhat amusing that he could do things like this to the boy without even touching him.

"Pip."

"Y-yes?" Pip looked up awkwardly, regretting what question Damien may ask him next.

But before any question could be asked Damien leaned in towards Pip and took the smooth pair of pink lips in his own. Pip melted immediately at the touch of the heat and placed his hands upon Damien's chest as he caught him in his arms.

Pip, to his own surprise, deepened the kiss by sliding his tongue between Damien's lips and licking around in search for his companion's own tongue. Damien licked back and soon they were both completely lost in the warm and wet embrace.

Damien lowered his hands onto Pip's butt cheeks and grabbed at them playfully, causing Pip to lose his balance and stumble backwards slightly. In an attempt to help his darling regain his footwork, Damien turned Pip around and swapped places with him, still indulged in their passionate kiss.

The back of Pip's knee bumped against the edge of the sofa and he fell down onto it, bringing Damien down with him. Now, the two were on top of each other and all over each other.

Damien's hands travelled casually up Pip's body from beneath his usual white shirt. Pip lost his fingers within Damien's thick black hair as his body began to ring with ecstasy.

Pip heard Pocket's words of warning fighting in his head, but he didn't allow them to take over. He was doing what lovers do with the man that he loved; how much closer could he expect to get? And so he coddled himself in the moment, completely forgetting about the notion that Damien didn't love him back.

The next morning, Damien and Pip found themselves inhabiting the sofa once again. Clad in a well put together, gothic display of Damien's wardrobe from two or three years ago, Pip was becoming more and more used to the clothes that Damien liked him to wear, despite the fact that this time he was choker and tight fitting clothes free, apart from the top that hugged his torso flatteringly and showed off a small part of his stomach. He was quite pleased with this particular outfit, although baggy things certainly were never really Pip's thing. The long blue and black striped sleeves of his t-shirt hung over his small hands like wings and helped to insulate the heat in his body, making him feel warm and cosy.

He didn't mind wearing so much black even though his own wardrobe consisted of nothing of the sort. He had always thought that black would make him look too pale or too blonde, but Damien seemed to like it and so that was good enough for Pip.

The two had been silent for some time now, staring in utter horror at the television as it played an episode of the Super Mario Bros.

"But… they're _Italian!_" Pip exclaimed completely bewildered.

"I know…" Damien answered equally as disturbed, "I don't think that the voice actors do, though."

"Pip there's someone at the door for you," Satan called from the front hall pleasantly, "Damien," he suddenly growled, "get out here now!"

The couple looked at each other in confusion and shrugged their shoulders, getting up from the couch as they made their way out of the living room.

Damien stopped dead behind Pip as he saw Officer Barbrady standing in the doorway once again. He grabbed Pip's hand, remembering the last time he had his angel taken away from him. He knew it wasn't going to happen this time, however. It would never happen again, for decades at least.

"Damien you promised me you would stop kidnapping your friends!" Satan scolded.

Barbrady stopped him, "Oh no no this isn't about that, Mr Satan. I'm afraid I have some bad news for Pip."

Pip looked to the plump, still man, knowing all too well what was coming.

"I'm afraid there was an accident at your home last night. Your foster parents are dead."

Pip said nothing. Everyone's eyes fell upon him now.

"Oh my goodness, that's horrible! I'll go make some hot chocolate right away." Satan cried as he hurried off to the kitchen.

"It looks like a serious case of manslaughter," Barbrady continued, "We'll put a lot more effort into the investigation once we finally get Al Gore to shut up about his theory of this incident having some link to the man-bear-pig conspiracy. It's putting us off our track of thought that your foster parents' deaths _may_ have something to do with the legendary man-bear-pig."

Pip nodded expressionless. Damien watched him carefully.

"Until then we'll have to close off your house, so you're gonna need to find somewhere to-"

"He can stay here," Damien interrupted, "You can discuss the details with my father. We'll take good care of him."

Officer Barbrady nodded, glancing over at Pip to check his reaction to all of this.

"Well that just leaves the matter of your personal belongings; in the case of your clothes, school books, uniform, etc." he dragged on like an old school text book, the only flicker of any sense of knowledge within the man's body, "you are permitted to be escorted in by one of our police officers. But I warn you… it's really gross in there."

Pip thought about what state his foster parents may have been left in after whatever brutal dismissal they were rewarded with. He shuddered, a notable look of disgust on his face.

Damien looked at him sympathetically, "I'll get the stuff for him."

"Alright, well I'm going to go talk to your father about Pip staying here and see if he's got any cheesecake. You should go on to Pip's house now; just tell one of the officers there that you're picking up Pip Pirrup's schooling items."

Officer Barbrady plunged on into the house and walked into the living room, closing the living room door behind him. When Pip and Damien were finally alone Damien turned to the speechless boy.

"Are you ok?" he whispered, squeezing Pip's hand lightly.

Pip nodded, avoiding eye contact.

"I'm just going to run to your house to get your things, ok?" Damien placed a light kiss onto Pip's forehead, "Stay here with my dad. I'll be right back."

He finished with a kiss on Pip's lips, gazing at him sincerely.

"Won't be long," he assured him.

He left for the door. Pip watched the heavy front door as it closed itself over and slammed shut. He stood almost completely breathless.

"This is all my fault…"


	18. Chapter 18

Only a few weeks had passed since the death of Pip's foster parents. It was hard to tell whether this was a good thing or not. Either way, time didn't seem to pass quickly enough. It always dragged even though the memories of the past were barely audible.

It was a cold November morning. Pip and Damien were snuggled up on the sofa watching re-runs of Pokémon. It was about 6 o'clock, long before they would have to start getting ready for school. Damien had grown into Pip's habit of getting up early every single morning. He did sleep with him, after all.

Quite some time after, they got dressed into their uniforms and packed their school bags before heading off to school, bright eyed and bushy tailed.

They walked hand in hand through the crisp autumn breath. The days had grown significantly frostier as it drew closer to winter. It was sometimes hard to tell, however, that the snow on the ground had piled up so much thicker practically over night.

Damien looked to his merrily content friend and then to the tin lunchbox he carried in the opposite hand.

"I hope you've got some treats in there for me."

Pip giggled, "Well silly if you wanted me to make you a lunch you could have just said so."

"Nah I'd rather scrounge off of you," Damien laughed.

Pip sat next to Pocket in French class, waiting for it to end. Pocket looked up to notice the nervous expression on Pip's face. He carefully placed his hand upon Pip's knee in reassurance. Pip jittered slightly at the sudden uncomfortable contact and watched the hand with great caution. Pocket smiled deeply, almost grinning, and began to rub his hand up Pip's thigh.

Pip pounced up from his seat with a squeal. He stopped and looked around him at his classmates, who stared back blankly. He cringed and slumped back down into his seat completely embarrassed. As he caught Pocket looking at him from the corner of his eye, he inched his seat further away until his leg was firmly against the cold leg of the desk and he could move no further.

Eventually, the bell rang and Pip dived from his seat, throwing his books together into his bag and speeding out of the room as fast as he could. Pocket wasn't far behind.

"Pip!" he called after him.

Pip merely picked up his speed, pretending he didn't hear a thing. Pocket ran now, desperate to catch up with the boy. He finally did and grabbed Pip's arm, pulling him to the side. Pip tried to pull out of Pocket's grip, but he was too strong for him and they ended up against the wall next to the boy's toilets.

"Pip…"

"Pocket stop it," Pip sighed, tired from the running.

"Pip things between us are changing. This is all wrong."

"It wouldn't be if you would stop trying to treat me like I'm more than a friend to you!" Pip shouted back in anger.

"Well that's how you and Damien came to be, isn't it? It's what the two of you do."

"I told you Pocket, Damien and I are just friends."

"Still?" Pocket was both surprised and relieved, "For God sake Pip, you're living with the man!"

Pip was silent. He couldn't see where this was going.

"Don't you see, Pip? We're both in the same situation. Why can't at least one of us be happy?" Pocket moved in closer to Pip.

Pip turned his head away to avoid any action Pocket may intend to try, "I _am_ happy."

"With Damien? Pip… he doesn't make you happy. Your hope does, but it's all in vain. You can make me the happiest man alive, not Damien. He can't appreciate you," Pocket took Pip's hands in his own, clasping them as if to beg as he stared deep into Pip's eyes, "Make me happy, Pip, and I can make you happy. You can learn to love me-"

"Enough, Pocket," Pip snapped, "I love Damien and I always will. Stop trying to change that because it's not going to work. I thought you were my friend."

"And I thought that you were my friend," Pocket began as he looked sincerely into the exasperated, but pretty blue eyes before him, "but you're breaking my heart here."

Pip felt boiling tears build up behind his eyes, "That's not my fault Pocket!"

"I'm trying to save you!" Pocket urged.

"From what?" Pip yelled, extremely irritated now, "From the man I love? From my happiness?"

Pocket froze, taken aback by Pip's unexpected rage.

"How dare you! How dare you _ever_ think that you can do more for me than Damien ever has! He has been there for me when no one else was. Not you, not anyone. He has been my shoulder to cry on. My only source of warmth. You can _never_ replace that! He taught me how to love and took me in when I had no where else to go. You make him out to be this horrible creature when he's everything to me. So how dare you sit there and criticise how he treats me when he's done more than you ever could!"

"He killed your parents, Pip!" Pocket managed to release from his mouth, growing greener and greener with every little word Pip had said.

"He did it for _me!_"

Pip's tears had been unleashed down his face, red with anger. His voice had become broken and shaky and he felt out of breath, like he could say no more. He had said all he needed to anyway, however, and stormed past Pocket silently, their shoulders banging hard together as he ran.

Pocket stood completely dumbfounded as he watched Pip run away from him in tears and he slowly felt his heart begin to sink.

Pip sat on Damien's (or rather his own) bed, deep in thought. He was alone for a change, dwelling in his guilt. He felt that he really needed it. The peace and quiet didn't last long, however, as a light tap came from the door.

"Pip?"

Pip looked up at the door in silence. It remained closed. He watched, expecting another rap to come until he answered, but it was nowhere to be heard. Instead, the door creaked open a notch. Damien poked his head in.

"Can I come in?" he asked softly.

"It's your room."

"Correction," Damien smiled as he opened the door fully and stepped on in, "It's our room."

Pip watched as he closed the door slowly behind him and walked over to his bed, sitting down beside Pip. He put his arm around him as if to comfort him. Pip didn't even protest and merely accepted the embrace, but didn't particularly encourage it.

"So… what's wrong with my Pip today?"

Pip turned away, not wanting Damien to get involved.

"Oh go on," Damien urged, "what's happened to that sweet little smile that I miss so much right now?"

"Nothing," Pip whined.

Damien looked at him for a moment, examining him professionally with his finger and thumb placed under his chin in a sort of thinking stance. After a few seconds, he spoke.

"I got it! Doctor Damien knows _exactly_ how to treat this stubbornly cute patient."

"What's that then?"

Damien's smiled wound up into a Cheshire cat grin as he intentionally held Pip in suspense. He waited for him to gain interest (or worry) and it wasn't long before he did.

"D-Damien," Pip responded anxiously, "what… what are you going to-"

"Tickle therapy!"

Damien's arms lashed out and caught Pip before he could even scream. His long, menacing fingers began to dance on Pip's ribs, drawing all sorts of high pitched noises from the boy. Pip struggled to speak between the mangled giggles.

"S-stop!" he screeched, "Damien stoooop!"

Damien laughed as he threw Pip down onto the bed, rolling over on top of him. Pip continued to struggle, kicking his legs out in the air and using his arms to try to push Damien off of him playfully. He giggled uncontrollably as his back arched and bounced on and off of the mattress beneath him.

"Damien! Stop!"

Damien eventually slowed down to a stop. He collapsed down onto Pip as they breathed heavily together, their hearts pounding, hot and sweaty.

"Thank fuck dad knows how to knock," Damien whispered. He stopped for a second to try to catch his breath, "because this would look really wrong."

Pip laughed breathlessly, "Then shove off, you big brute."

"Not until I'm finished with you," Damien grinned effortlessly.

He leaned in further until he and Pip's lips met. Pip closed his eyes thankfully. The tickle therapy was fun but kiss therapy would surely do the trick. Damien always knew what was best for Pip.

'_Two sweating bodies… on a bed, on top of each other… kissing? Now this really does look wrong,_' Pip thought.

He sighed pleasantly against Damien's tongue as it entered his warm, awaiting mouth. He melted beneath him, going willingly.

'_But it feels so right…_'

Pip stood before a tall bright red door and swallowed forcefully at the lump in his throat. He wrapped the golden knocker lightly and stepped back, waiting for someone to answer the door. It was around 7 pm and Pip had sneaked off into the night without Damien noticing. He didn't particularly want him to know where he was going.

The front door was pulled open and Pocket stood before Pip looking quite surprised.

"H-hello," Pip put on a smile.

Pocket seemed somewhat delighted to see Pip, but his eyes held a slight hint of sweet sadness, "Hello ol' chap."

"Listen Pocket, I am so very sorry about what I said to you today. I didn't mean to get so angry."

"It's… it's ok Pip," Pocket smiled at him as if everything had automatically been fixed.

"I don't want to hurt you Pocket. I know that you can't help how you feel for me just like I can't help how I feel for Damien, but you have to understand that."

Pocket nodded, "I understand Pip."

Pip smiled back at his friend, somewhat relieved that Pocket didn't hate him now. Pocket looked at Pip for a moment.

"Oh, how rude of me," he stepped back slightly and gestured towards the hall, "Would you like to come in?"

"Well alright," Pip smiled as he stepped inside, "I suppose I could stay for a little while."

Damien sat at the kitchen table playing with the bowl of assorted, decorative glass stones his father had made up in a glass bowl ornament. Satan was occupying himself at the stove, putting dinner together. The clattering noise of the stones didn't distract Satan; he was in his zone and hummed the soft tune of sickening songs as he cooked away.

Damien sighed, "Dad?"

"Yes sweety?"

The two didn't even look at each other; Damien because he merely didn't want to and Satan because he didn't want to end up burning himself again.

"Is _he_ going to be over for dinner?"

Satan clicked on immediately, "No…" he started sadly, "he's having dinner with his father. But hey, that's good news for you, isn't it?"

"I guess…"

There was silence again, apart from the sizzling snake sounds coming from the pan Satan was so busy with. Damien thought for a moment before speaking again.

"I hate him, dad."

Satan sighed, "Well I know that Damien. I don't expect you to love him, I just want you to accept it."

"I do."

Satan stopped for a moment, taking his hand off of the pan's handle. He stared at Damien for a while, looking concerned. Stepping closer to his son, who didn't even notice it, he got down on his knees next to Damien's chair so they were at eye level.

"Damien… you know it's not honestly Jesus' fault."

Damien glared at his father, "It's _all_ his fault. You know that, dad."

"You and Pip are still going to be able to be together."

"Until he dies," Damien growled.

Satan was silent, his eyes glued to the cold tile floor. Damien pushed back in his chair and stood up, looking down at his father.

"You know he won't go to Hell. You know I'll never see him again."

Satan sighed but pleaded with Damien all the same, "Baby I felt the same about Jesus but-"

"But he was resurrected! That won't happen to Pip! I _know_ God tries to keep Jesus away from you even in death, but the second Pip dies that's it. I lose him forever!"

Satan stood so that Damien wasn't towering over him.

"Damien all you can do is make the most of the time you spend with him now. I know the years seem like nothing compared to eternity but the memories are far greater than that and even in death he will never forget you."

"How am I supposed to make the most of my time with him when I _know_ it'll never last!" Damien yelled.

He tried to avoid addressing what Satan had said. Memories? Even happy memories will make you sad. Make you cry. Damien knew it. And yet he knew that even at that, Pip would be happy in Heaven. He was a good Christian. He deserved the eternal bliss God would reward him. And so even thinking back, Pip would never feel the sweet sadness that Damien would. The sadness he always felt.

"You know what I'm not even going to bother," Damien shook his head in desperation as he tried to hold back every ounce of emotion he felt beneath his face.

He turned and began to walk away, heading for the front door.

"Damien wait dinner's almost-"

The door slammed shut.

"ready…"


	19. Chapter 19

Pip and Pocket sat together, happily chatting away on Pocket's living room couch. Pip was glad that now everything had started to seem… almost normal.

"And that's when I said, 'Well then ol' chap, I suppose you can pay for the tea'!"

Pip giggled, "Oh Pocket, you're so droll!"

"Yes yes, quite."

Pocket watched Pip try to control his laughter, admiring his ultimately uber cuteness. He looked more plentiful than just divine.

"Pip… how would you like to stay the night with me?"

Pip blinked. Perhaps Pocket didn't choose the right words.

"As a sleepover, I mean."

"Well that sounds like a jolly good idea Pocket, but…"

"Damien wouldn't approve?"

"N-no…" Pip argued despite the fact that he knew it was true, "I just umm I don't have my pyjamas with me."

Pocket masked his disappointment with a smile. He knew what Pip was doing more than Pip did.

Pip smiled modestly at him, "Some other time. I promise."

"Alright then. Soon, I hope."

"Soon," Pip reassured him.

"Very soon?" Pocket pleaded with huge puppy dog eyes.

Pip giggled, "Yes. Very soon indeed."

"Oh that's just absolutely fantastic! I really can't wait now. What are you going to tell Damien?"

"The truth, of course."

"_Really?_" Pocket looked excitedly into Pip's eyes, leaning forward, "Honestly? As in absolutely positively completely one hundred percent-"

"Yes," Pip stopped him before his brain went dry, "Yes, Pocket. I mean it."

Pocket threw his arms around Pip and dove into him with a great big hug.

"Oh Pip, what an jolly good friend you are!"

Pip giggled, "T-that's very good to hear Pocket ol' chap, but would you mind releasing me? I seem to be having a little trouble breathing."

Pocket loosened the hug, laying his head against Pip's shoulder as he laughed with him. His arms finally slid off from around Pip's body. He looked at him for a moment, savouring every second. He and Pip were laughing together. Happy together. It wasn't everything, but it was something.

'_Maybe this is why Pip stays with someone who doesn't love him. I suppose being just friends isn't that bad after all,_' Pocket smiled.

He placed his hand upon Pip's, who looked up at him in a regretful manner.

Pocket smiled at him, "Don't worry Pip," he gave the soft hand a light squeeze before taking his own off of it, "Come on. Let's go play my Wii. I've got Cooking Mama."

"Yay!"

Damien sat alone, embedded by the eternal night sky. It was more freezing than Damien could ever remember, but his body was still. He didn't shiver and didn't move. He was at Stark's Pond, looking out at the scummy lake filled with dead creatures and piss, excretion of all sorts and such. So lost in thought, Damien didn't even bother making a comment about the disgusting, stomach churning pool. He hardly even realised he was there, given that he didn't turn his nose up at the stench that drifted up his nostrils from the sickly pond and distressed every part of his body to the point that anyone else would shudder in repulsion.

He sighed. His father just didn't understand. Nobody did. I mean who could ever understand a dark prince when even the dark lord himself couldn't? Pip wouldn't understand either and even if he did, what would that accomplish? It was still going to happen. Nothing would ever change that. Nothing.

'_He's won,_' Damien thought with a breathless sigh, '_The bastard's won. He may not be able to take away dad's lover, but he can mine away from me._'

Damien stood, staring up at the grey clouded sky with clenched fists. A few clouds scattered, drifting away in all directions quickly as if they were terrified of the son of the devil. The moon was revealed; the only source of light upon the whole place, the whole situation, like God among man on this doomed, dark world. Damien screamed up at the moon furiously, admitting defeat.

"You hear that, God? You've won! You've fucking won you egotistical, make believe bastard! You've won!"

"Won what?"

Damien would have jumped at the sound of the sudden, timid voice that came from behind him, but instead he froze. There was no point in running now.

He slid back down onto the cold, snow paved ground. He crossed his arms on top of his tucked up legs and allowed his mouth to sink into the comfort of his sleeve.

"You."

Pip blinked, confused. But Damien said no more. Pip sat down carefully beside him, shuddering as the snow melted under his trousers and wet his bottom. Regardless, he placed his hand upon Damien's shoulder gently.

"What do you mean me, Damien?"

Damien paused. Maybe it wasn't best to tell Pip. Maybe it would upset him. But he had a right to know.

"Your God… has won you," he stated plain and simple.

"Huh?" Pip stressed his brain cells to try to comprehend what he was saying, but it was no use. He was extremely baffled now.

Damien shook his head, "Nothing."

He decided to take his first glance at the boy. Pip's hair was slightly out of place. His cheeks were red with both heat and frost, as if he had been running against the wind.

"What brings you here, anyway?"

Pip looked up to the sky, watching the moon before it hid behind the clouds once more, "It's a beautiful night. I like to watch the stars-"

"You only come here when something's gone wrong. Most people in South Park do. I'm just surprised they're not here more often. So what's your reason?"

Pip looked down at the cold wet ground in shame, thinking of what he should say now that Damien knew all, "I-I was at Pocket's house…"

Damien stared at him as if to say "And?" He looked suspicious, like he knew that every time Pocket's name was mentioned something bad had happened. Pip continued without having to be coaxed, verbally at least.

"And he kissed me…"

"He _what?_" Damien was both surprised and angry in an instant.

'_I didn't think the ginger wanker would have the guts. Fucking asshole. He's going to get it next time I-_'

Damien stopped as he noticed the expression on Pip's face. He looked upset, completely detached from anything else. Damien moved closer to him and began to play with the stray strands of blonde hair to get Pip's attention.

"What did you do?" he asked in a non-threatening tone.

"N-nothing… I mean I didn't want to kiss him back because well _you_ kiss me," Damien smiled, finding a strange form of amusement in Pip's take on their relationship, "but I couldn't push him away. He's my friend. I don't want to hurt him."

"It's ok," Damien wrapped his arms around Pip, who indulged himself right into the hug.

"He's making it so hard for me," Pip muttered desperately from Damien's shirt.

Damien gave him a reassuring squeeze, "I know what you mean. Only in a very different way…"

Pip sat up slightly and looked up at Damien, "Maybe we should go home now. Your father will be wondering where we are."

There was no response. Pip nudged Damien's arm slightly.

"Damien?"

"Give me 5 more minutes," Damien mumbled as he snuggled in against Pip's body.

"But-"

"But I don't want this to end. So we have to make it last as long as it can possibly can."

"I told you Pip, the answer is no."

Pip and Damien were walking through the packed corridors, although when Damien stepped through it seemed that a narrow pathway always seemed to open up for him as the students edged up against the lockers and walls, watching him pass by. Pip scurried not far behind him.

"But Damien-"

"We are not celebrating my father's love monkey's birthday. It means a whole lot different to me than it does to you."

"What does it mean to you, then?"

"Nothing!"

Pip stopped and allowed Damien to walk on ahead of him.

"Fine!" he called back in a huff.

Damien looked back at the pouting little child. He almost laughed at how immature Pip had become. It was a rare sight.

'_I guess they're right when they say that Christmas brings out the inner child in everyone,_' he thought as he grabbed Pip's arm.

"Come on," he urged as he proceeded to pull Pip along, "I don't want to miss Religion."

'_Oh dear God,_' Pip thought, '_What on earth is he planning on this time?_'

The two entered their class and took their seats, next to each other. Pip went white when he looked up at the board to see that their teacher had written "Love and Relationships." Damien just grinned.

Mr Roper had begun the class and much to Pip's relief, Damien had said nothing. However the devil never pleased, and the safe sensation of security was surely not meant to last. And it didn't.

"So in your typical boy-girl relationship we have many things to base said relationship on which shows our intent, whether it be love, fondness, comfort, etc. And if that intent happens to be one of a sexual nature, you _will_ go to Hell."

Damien's hand shot up into the air like an attentive student, waving it back and forth gleefully, "Sir! Sir!"

"Yes?"

"What about boy-boy relationships, sir?" he asked in an innocent manner, holding his hands together as if he were as good as gold.

"Excuse me?" Mr Roper growled. He had expected no better from Damien, naturally.

"Well you see," Damien threw his arm around Pip casually, "me an' Pip here are-"

"Damien!" Pip squeaked. He was beginning to blush heavily.

"Enough, Satan!"

"We're butt lovin' gays!" Damien exclaimed.

It was a strange thing to hear him be referred to as gay. Even when he was calling himself gay.

"This is an abomination! How dare you disrupt my class with this sinful behaviour!"

"How dare you disrupt my eyes with your ugliness," Damien rolled his eyes.

"And _you!_" Pip jumped as Mr Roper ignored Damien's remark and turned his attention to the trembling blonde, "How dare _you_ traffic with the devil in such a way that it should lead to sodomy!"

Pip was beetroot red now, "B-but I-"

"To the principal's office with the two of you!"

"Um sir?"

"What?" Mr Roper spun around to see Stan looking slightly irritated, but keeping his wits about him.

"I'm gay. In fact I made out with my boyfriend behind your car yesterday during break."

There were a few whispers throughout the class. It was more obvious to some than it was to others that Stan and Kyle were an item. Basically, the majority of the girls were too busy ogling their asses that they didn't realise they had been doing the same to each other.

"What? To the principal's office!"

"Hey I'm gay too!" Craig stood up from his seat, dignified and proud.

There were various gasps of shock and surprise now. Craig had never seemed like the gay type to anyone and even his best friends weren't aware of it. He was always the type who didn't care, however. He wasn't exactly keeping it a secret in the first place either.

"The principal's office!" Mr Roper pointed sharply towards the door. He was absolutely boiling hot now.

Everyone was still. Damien rolled his eyes once more, grabbing Pip by the arm and standing up from his seat.

"Come on Pip. Let's go."

He pulled Pip behind him helplessly. Stan and Craig followed. Mr Roper closed the door behind them and looked to the rest of the silent students.

"Don't forget to say goodbye to your classmates, boys and girls, because they won't be there to greet you when you die."

It was quiet outside the principal's office. Craig sat on his usual seat; the very last one so that if someone else came along they would be forced to go before him. Stan sat on the very first chair. As Damien plopped himself down onto the chair in the middle, Pip looked around to find a seat for himself. Instead all he saw was two broken chairs and the infamous crusting, dried up, year old vomit stained one.

"I-I think I'll just-"

Damien pulled Pip down onto his lap, "sit here," he finished for him.

Pip said nothing, merely looking around at his surroundings. He had never been sent to the principal's office before. He was actually quite worried, despite the fact that he had no chance of being beat for getting into trouble (or for being gay) afterwards. The habit had yet to fade.

The sound of the ticking clock was the only source of noise and even then it only seemed to tick every eon or so. Stan pulled his mobile out from his trouser pocket and began texting with a sweet smile on his face. The same kind of smile that Pip would get when he thought about Damien back in his old bedroom, during his old life, Pip thought. Craig took to his regular obsessive compulsion of flipping off everyone who stared or walked by, apart from the very disturbed Tweek Tweak whom he tried to coax over until he was chased off to class by a teacher, to whom Craig gave the finger.

Pip figured that he and Damien were in good company. Stan and Craig were nice guys. Popular for different reasons, but it never got to their heads and they didn't lap up the attention. That was always the sign of a nice guy.

Finally, a frail but young woman in her early 20s emerged from the room they were waiting next to, wearing a pretty frilled blouse.

She tucked a few loose strands of mousey brown hair behind her ear, "T-the principal will see you now, boys."

She held the door open as they all walked in one after the other.

"Hey Marge," Craig greeted to the woman as he walked in. The door was closed behind him.

Principal McCann sat at a massive, organised desk on a huge, black leather chair. Pip was surprised at the sudden change in atmosphere due to the person they now had to deal with. She was a middle-aged woman, proper and strong with a dangerous look in her eyes.

The four boys stood side by side in a line, like soldiers awaiting orders from their generals.

"Good afternoon, boys."

"Hey Delilah!" Craig jeered.

"Yes, hello Craig," she muttered before clearing her throat, "Now, Mr Roper has informed me that a serious incident occurred today during your Religious Studies lesson. Would any of you care to tell me what that was exactly?"

"We're gay," Stan and Craig echoed together.

"With each _other?_"

"Well I have a boyfriend."

"Not me."

Everyone in the room turned to Damien and Pip now, who looked left and right shiftily.

"Well not in school!" Damien protested.

"So… what's the problem?"

Stan shrugged, "That's it."

"That's it?" McCann repeated.

"Yup," Craig joined in.

"Well fuck," the principal sat back in her chair, "That was just a waste of time."

She came forward again and pushed in the button on her small intercom lying on the desk before her, "Margaret, have Mr Roper come to my office immediately."

She looked up at the four boys, who merely watched.

"Well?"

"Um thank you ma'am," Stan gulped as he opened the door and began to make his way out.

Damien followed, dragging Pip behind him.

"Later Teresa!" Craig saluted as he went out behind them.

Principal McCann sighed. Today had been a long day and it was just going to start getting longer. She stared at the intercom thoughtfully before pushing down on the small white button once more.

"Oh and Margaret?"

"Yes ma'am?" a bad quality interpretation of the young woman's voice responded, cracking and buzzing with bad reception even though she was only in the other room.

"Be sure to wear those black lace panties I like so much tonight."


	20. Chapter 20

"A New Years Eve party?"

Damien raised his eyebrow sceptically at his father, who sat across the table from him. Pip beamed next to him.

"Oh what a fantastic idea!"

"You _just_ made all of Hell celebrate your butt buddy's fucking birthday. You expect them to be prepared for another one of your bloody random shindigs?"

"No one forced you to go to Jesus' birthday party, Damien."

"I had no choice because _someone _insisted on going."

"Didn't mean you had to come," Pip sulked, unhappy that he was being blamed for it.

"I don't like the way Pope John Paul II looks at you."

"Oh I know what you mean," Satan chimed in, "I'd watch myself around him if I were you, Pip. He likes himself a good, innocent blonde."

Pip looked at him, slightly frightened. Suddenly he had lost his appetite, which was a shame considering the plate of Satan's delicious cooking that was still piping hot before him. Damien slumped back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest with a sigh.

"I suppose I'll have to go to this one too, then."

"Y-you don't have to Damien… I can just stay here. I'm not really too keen on going now that I know it isn't terribly safe for me to be there."

Satan giggled, "For goodness sake Pip, he won't do you any harm. If it makes you really uncomfortable I won't invite him."

"No no, that's not very fair. I don't want to cause him to miss out on all the fun."

"Well don't you go missing out on it either," Satan stood from his seat, picking up his almost empty plate and Damien's completely deserted one.

Pip watched as he walked over to the sink and placed them in, turning the tap on so the water gushed out noisily and smacked off of the top plate, washing the tiny bits of left over food away.

"Perhaps I will go…"

"I am too then," Damien added.

"You don't have to Damien," Pip repeated, "I don't want you hanging around absolutely bored because of me."

Damien smirked, "Well then. You're just going to have to entertain me, aren't you Pip?"

Pip felt his cheeks grow warm. New Years Eve was going to be fun.

"Oh flip I forgot to order the vegetarian foods! Oh God and the non-alcoholic beverages! What am I going to do? I don't have time to order enough on time for the party!"

"Shit dad calm down," Damien groaned.

"You don't understand Damien, we have family coming over!"

"Shit…"

"I know!" Satan's hand was planted against his forehead dramatically with his other hand on his hip.

It had been an exhausting few days of party organising, so soon after the previous one too. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He sat down on the arm of the couch that Damien was lying lazily on and picked the telephone off of the table next to him. He placed it on his lap and lifted the receiver to his hear, beginning to dial.

"Damien sweety do me a favour and send this list down to Mr. Hat. He'll be in the party hall organising the decorations."

Damien looked nonchalantly at the piece of scrap paper he had been handed. It was a list of cocktail drinks.

"Yes, hello?" Satan stood up, sliding the telephone off his lap and onto the arm of the chair, "No I really don't have time to-… yes I'll hold."

"What's with the fancy gay drinks?" Damien blurted.

Satan glanced up at him, "Oh, I need those for your uncle Hades."

"Uncle Hades is coming?"

Satan nodded, still paying attention to the irritating elevator music that was playing from the other end of the line while he drummed his fingers on his hip impatiently.

"But dad Uncle Hades is a freak! Aunt Persephone is his niece for fuck sake!"

"Damien we talked about this before."

'_Wait a minute…_' a horrified expression spread across Damien's face in realisation.

"Dad I don't want any of them anywhere near Pip."

"Hm?" Satan looked up and pressed the receiver into the soft cotton of his thick jumper.

"Our family. Keep them away from Pip."

"Oh Damien they'll hardly try to kill him. Don't you worry about a thing, Pip will be just fine."

"Were you _high_ when you decided to invite them all along?"

"Damien I just thought-"

"You can't do anything right!" Damien growled as he pulled himself up off of the sofa and stormed upstairs to find Pip.

Satan watched as he left and sighed, '_He forgot the list…_'

"You're not going to that party."

"But Damien I want to go."

"I don't care. You're not."

"I already promised your father that I would. Besides I _just_ decided on what to wear."

"Well you can wear it while we're sitting at home watching TV."

"Damien this isn't fair!"

"Tough."

The two had been quarrelling for a while now, although Pip didn't quite see it as quarrelling. Nor did Damien, who merely saw it as his way of protecting him from horrible people who do horrible things.

"Fine," Pip blurted, fed up with Damien's behaviour, "I'll just spend New Years Eve with Pocket."

"Why would you spend any time with _that_ little shit?" Damien growled.

"Because he's my friend," Pip declared almost proudly.

"He kissed you! He kissed you even when he knew you're… not his," Damien stumbled hopelessly over his tongue, just managing to avoid saying what he dreaded even thinking.

"It's not his fault he has feelings for me, Damien!" Pip stood up from the bed, "I _know_ what it's like and I'm sure he must feel awful because I don't feel the same. But I want to help him find someone who he can be happy with. And that's because I'm loyal to my friends and I never let stupid things get between me and my friends."

Damien stepped before Pip and grabbed his arms to prevent him from leaving.

"Listen to me Pip; don't bring him into this over some stupid party. You're spending New Years Eve here with me and that's final."

"You wanted to go to the party with me earlier," Pip protested, struggling hopelessly within Damien's firm grip.

"That was earlier. This is now."

"What changed?"

Damien sighed. He looked down at Pip, who had clearly given up. He still looked disappointed though and for that Damien felt guilty.

"Look… my dad has family coming over and-"

"And I embarrass you?"

"No!"

Pip turned away in remorse, "I get it…"

Damien tightened his grip on Pip's shoulders and pulled him closer to him reassuringly, "No Pip you don't get it. The rest of my family are _nothing_ like my dad. I want them nowhere near you."

Pip's eyes were locked onto Damien's in a bond of trust and belief.

"Can't we just… work something out?"

Damien gave in. He just couldn't stand to dishearten his Pip.

"We'll see."

It was loud. It was crowded. And it was downright irritating. Damien rolled his eyes at everything going on before him as he leaned against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. Pip seemed to be enjoying himself, watching heartily at all the fun going on before his eyes.

Damien had forced him to stay right by his side in the shadows where it was safest, even though most of his family members could see better in the dark anyway. But he was desperate to do all he could. A regretful churn still sickened his innards, but seeing Pip so pleased brought a smile to his own face.

A beautiful, young woman approached them with a wine glass in hand. She had long back hair that fell over her shoulders, with a thick purple streak through it that hung loosely over her right eye. She was wearing a short, pretty black dress and a gorgeous purple blazer. Pip smiled at her.

"Damien!" she hugged the dumbfounded boy with her free arm.

"H-hey Aunt Persephone," he gasped for air, "Good to s-see you."

She laughed as she released him, "Sorry dear, I just haven't seen you in so long."

Her eyes suddenly latched onto Pip.

"Oh," she purred, "Who's this?"

"This is Pip," Damien began, "my-"

"Your boyfriend? Oh your father mentioned you were currently… occupied," a grin spread across her pale face mischievously.

"He _what?_ N-no! Me and Pip are just…"

Damien glanced at Pip, who did the same. A lump formed in his throat. He didn't know what to say. What he _could_ say. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea what he and Pip were. Something didn't seem right about "friends." It was definitely an understatement, but were they boyfriends? He couldn't quite call them that either. It sounded almost demeaning, to say the least.

"So this is where you've run off to," a powerful, masculine voice bellowed from behind Persephone.

Large, hairy arms wrapped around her body and a tall, bulky man emerged. Damien narrowed his eyes as the man grinned devilishly at him.

"Ah, young Damien, you look well I see."

"Yeah and now I look gone," Damien scowled as he grabbed Pip and pulled him to the other side of the room.

Persephone turned her head to the arrogant man as he rested his head upon her shoulder against her neck.

"You _know_ he doesn't like you, Hades. Why do you have to keep doing that?"

Hades laughed, bringing his head up slightly, "It's all child's play. Now come here and give your uncle some love…"

Pip looked over to Damien, who sat silently next to him. He knew that Damien was much more tense than usual tonight, but now he seemed to be getting moody. He shifted closer to him and placed his hand in Damien's.

"Are you ok Damien?" he asked timidly.

"Yeah… I'm fine," Damien breathed in, seemingly calming himself.

"It's just… hiding under a table seems rather childish."

And it was. Damien had pulled Pip under a clothed buffet table in seek of refuge from Hades, the rest of his family and anyone else who could traumatise, frighten or harm Pip. So as childish as it was, Damien didn't care. All he cared about was protecting his Pip.

"Shut up," Damien said flatly.

He was about to wrap his arms around Pip after getting the urge to hold him, but instead he stopped. It was Persephone's words that prevented him from doing what was "the norm" for he and Pip. The words that stuck in his head and he questioned twenty times and counting. What were they?

Pip frowned, but he knew that Damien meant no harm in his words. It was just how he was. He smiled again, however, at the sound of a very familiar song beginning to play throughout the room. He shifted closer still to Damien.

"Do you remember when we danced to this song?" he looked up into Damien's red eyes hopefully as they began to sparkle slightly, "Our first dance?"

A smile spread across Damien's blank expression. Pip giggled, linking arms with Damien and resting his head against his chest.

"We don't have to dance tonight. I just want to listen."

Damien brought his other arm around Pip's body and pulled him closer against his body. He began to run his fingers through Pip's blonde hair and the two sat in silence. Just listening.

It wasn't long before the night was nearly over. Pip and Damien had emerged from beneath the table, still hidden in the shadows. Everyone had become so fascinated with the tall, gothic grandfather clock that Satan had gotten especially for the party, with well over 5000 eyes upon it. They all began to chant along with each tick, announcing the last seconds of the night.

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

Damien wrapped his arm around Pip's waist and pulled him closer, smiling down warmly at him.

"Two!"

"One!"

Pip was suddenly pulled into a passionate kiss. He moaned against Damien, melting in his arms and wrapping his arms around his neck needily. It wasn't long before everything in his mind was completely blocked out and he could no longer hear the rabble rousing cheers and hoots of drunken celebratory goodness.

Damien pulled away, tightening his grip on Pip. Pip gazed up at him with heavy lids and lightly stained cheeks. His pink lips shone, still parted slightly and damp with Damien's saliva. He looked absolutely delicious.

"Here's to the New Year. An entire year of us."


	21. Chapter 21

Pip awoke wrapped tight in Damien's arms. He stared at the blank wall before him, feeling Damien's breath glide over the sensitive skin of his neck. He smiled, his heavy eyelids dropping, and placed his hands on Damien's arms. A comforting warmth drifted through the air despite the raging frost outside. It was far safer inside. Safe with Damien.

'_It feels so perfect,_' Pip thought with a giggle, '_waking up with my…_'

And there was that question again. He shook it out of mind just as quickly as it had come. There was no need to complicate things when they were fine just the way they were, even if sometimes he couldn't help but wonder.

It was Monday morning and the first day back to school. Pip skipped merrily on his way to school, quite pleased but also quite alone. Damien had wanted to have a lie in and saunter in at his own time, but Pip was happy enough to go on his own, eager to get back to school and back into the swing of things. He wanted to see Pocket, whom he had missed all throughout the holidays.

Sure enough, there Pocket was. As soon as Pip started up the hallway filled with lockers the first thing that struck him was the back of a ginger head. He quickened his pace, waving in cheer.

"Pocket!"

Pocket turned around with an ugly frown upon his face. Pip stopped to look at Pocket, for he wasn't wearing their usual school uniform. Instead, he wore a plain white shirt and a red waistcoat that clashed horribly with his large blue bowtie, along with a pair of dull black loafers and matching trousers. He had been searching through his locker with a battered sports bag in hand. Pip took a few hesitant steps closer.

"Pocket? Why aren't you wearing your uniform?"

Pocket looked Pip in the eyes for all of a few seconds before turning back towards his locker. It was almost as though it hurt him to stare at Pip for too long.

"Pip… I'm going."

Pip's eyes widened, "_Going?_ W-where?"

"Back home," Pocket replied bluntly.

Pip watched as he resumed to sorting through his locker and lifting a few books out to place into his bag.

"But…"

"But I can't do this anymore, Pip," Pocket turned around to finally face him after loading the majority of the contents of his locker into his bag.

Pip waited for some sort of explanation, silent.

"I can't stand looking at you every single day knowing that you will never love me and that some undeserving bastard like him has complete control of you. I just can't."

"But Pocket I said that I'd help you find someone else!"

"How can I fall in love with someone else when you're always here and you haven't given me any reason not to care about you? You can't. It's not that easy, Pip. It just isn't easy."

Pip was still, feeling extremely hurt and lost.

"I'm sorry, Pip… but it's what's best."

Pocket took one last look at Pip. He wanted to kiss him so badly for one last time, but he knew that the final kiss is always the hardest to end. He picked up his bag and took a few remaining items from his locker, closing it shut behind him.

"Goodbye Pip," he muttered as he walked on past him.

Pip's eyes filled with tears as one of his only friends walked away. Pocket felt a strong urge to look back at the sweet blonde, but he couldn't torture himself any longer. He needed to get away so that it would soon be all over.

Damien trudged carelessly into their registration room, glancing all around him in search for Pip. He was sitting at their usual table, deadly silent and staring blankly ahead of him. Damien watched him strangely as he approached the boy. Pip didn't even notice the dark shadow that was looming over him. Damien frowned; he could sense that there was something wrong with his Pip. He sat down next to him and began to stroke his silky golden hair.

"Hey," he cooed.

"Oh," Pip turned to face him gingerly, "hello Damien."

"What's wrong?" Damien pulled an innocent pout.

"I… Pocket's not my friend anymore."

Damien's tone rose with enthusiasm, "What?"

Pip's soft face fell into a desperately sad picture and he stared down at the table before him. Damien's expression faltered.

"Pip I'm so sorry."

Pip glanced up at him for a moment.

"It wasn't because of me, though," he added quickly, remembering what had happened to Bill, Fosse and Pip's foster parents.

"I know. It was all _my_ fault…"

"Aw Pip don't go saying that."

"But it _is,_" Pip croaked.

Damien could see the tears building up in Pip's wide eyes as he looked up at him desperately. He hated that look. It always broke his heart. He wrapped his arms around the small boy and brought their bodies closer together.

"Hey now don't be so upset," he hushed as he ran his fingers through Pip's blonde hair.

Pip sniffed into Damien's jumper and closed his eyes. He wasn't feeling any better about it, but at least Damien was there for him. He sat up slightly in order to wrap his arms around Damien's neck and look into his eyes.

"Thank you, Damien."

Damien smiled, placing a gentle kiss on Pip's forehead. He had completely forgotten all about every other member of the class, who all stared and whispered. But as they found themselves becoming more and more infatuated in each others eyes, they felt like they were the only ones in the room. The only ones in the world; their own, little world.

"You're welcome."

Pip buried his face against Damien's shoulder, holding onto him even tighter. He closed his eyes to block away the remaining tears, but it only pushed the rest of them from his eyes and down his face. But right now, he didn't care.

"And the Lord will smite him down and save our souls from his paedophilic sodomy! But if you have become one with the Devil, nothing can save you."

Damien rolled his eyes, his face plonked carelessly on his fist. What seemed to be two hours of blasphemous and bigoted drabble was actually only about twenty minutes long so far. But Damien was unaware of this. He glanced over to Pip, who had an attentive look on his face but was clearly not amused. He flashed Damien a quick look, causing a meek smile to spread sheepishly across his face and mask the displeasure caused by Mr Roper's words.

"So be warned, class, be well warned that if you allow yourself to become a slave to the evil and sexually perverted, you _will_ go to Hell. Heaven is not far away if you love and serve the Lord, but you must be wary to reject those who are not with God."

Damien glared up at the narrow-minded teacher, unaware that he was beginning to push a red button or two.

"You can not leave Heaven once you become worthy enough of entering it. God will grace you with every step and protect you from all evil; Satan and his minions."

Damien frowned, becoming hopelessly angered. He lay his head down onto the table both in defeat and in resistance. He really didn't need to be reminded.

"God will never let the Devil succeed in captivating a pure and worthy soul."

Red eyes gazed upon Pip, who was as unknowing as he was deaf to what Mr Roper was saying. As Damien watched him, he thought more and more about Mr Roper's words. The words he always knew, but Hell did it hurt all the more with the confirmation of the fact that it was true.

"If you are truly a son of God, he will always take you under his wing and cherish you. Choose God over the Devil and you will always be nourished with his love; the greatest love of all. Far greater than any sort of 'love' the devious Devil may offer you."

Damien gritted his teeth, grinding them together as he tried to contain his wrath. As much as he hated to admit it, Mr Roper's words were true. So true that it pained him to think of it and he couldn't even admit it to himself inwardly. He stood from his chair, sick of reality.

"Damien Satan, what do you think you're doing?" Mr Roper demanded.

Just as soon as he said it Damien headed for the door, storming out of the room and slamming the door shut behind him.

"Ah… D-Damien?" Pip called.

He looked up at Mr Roper pleadingly, "U-um sir? Could I-"

"No. Sit where you are."

"But-"

"Do you want to go to Hell, boy? Well? Do you?"

Pip shook his head, unable to make a sound. Of course he didn't.

"Good… then let us continue. Now class if you open your books at page 42 you'll see what Hell looks like. Pay attention, because if you don't play your cards straight then this is where you may end up."

"Um sir?" Stan raised his hand to grab Mr Roper's attention, "This is a picture of a Jewish synagogue."

"Exactly."

Pip dashed around the school frantically. It was lunchtime now and Damien hadn't shown up for any of their classes. He sighed, it was absolutely useless. He immediately made his way into the toilets and closed the cubicle door behind him, taking his mobile phone out of his pocket and dialling Damien's number. He held it to his ear for a while, listening anxiously with every ring. It stopped. No answer. Pip sighed once more as he began to dial another number. This time the phone only rang twice.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Satan? It's Pip."

"Oh, Pip! How are you?"

"Um well I'm fine really. It's just that Damien left during Religion class today and I haven't seen him since and I'm getting terribly worried and-"

"Oh don't you worry one bit, dear. He's in his bedroom."

"He _is?_"

"Yes, he came home a couple of hours ago. He seemed very upset and a teensy bit moody so I just decided to give him some space. I'm sure he'll be fine when you get back to see him."

"Oh… well I can't leave school at the moment, so I suppose I'll see you both when I get home."

"Alright, see you then!" Satan cooed.

"Goodbye," Pip almost mumbled as he hung up.

He slipped down onto the ground with his phone still in hand, beginning to text something. When he finished, he found Damien's name in his phonebook quite swiftly. The sending screen popped up and dinged as the message was finally sent.

'_i miss you_'

Pip frowned, wondering whether Damien would even care in his currently strange mood.

Pip crept into he and Damien's bedroom, careful not to disturb the beast sitting silently on the bed with his back to Pip. He didn't want to make things any worse, but sometimes confronting problems actually _did_ do something of some use. At least, that was where his unconditional optimism always took him, even though he didn't have any experience to back it up. He watched Damien for a moment. He was still and yet the catastrophic, gushing rage of his troubles ran through him in a racing, noisy mess. Pip swallowed the sickening lump in his throat before speaking.

"Umm… D-Damien?"

Damien opened his mouth to speak, avoiding turning to face Pip. But he couldn't seem to force the words out that he felt were needed. He sighed.

"I can't do it."

"Can't… can't do what, Damien?" Pip inquired as he drew near.

"Can't tell you to go away. You need it more than I do and despite how important that is to me… I just can't do it."

Pip sat down slowly beside Damien, his eyes unable to leave the back of his head as he placed his hand on Damien's shoulder, "Damien I don't understand."

Damien sighed, "Pip listen to me, _all_ mortals die. All of them either go to Heaven or they go to Hell. You're a good person and you're going to Heaven."

"Well I know that Damien but I don't see how-"

"Don't you get it, Pip?" Damien stood up and turned to face the boy, "Once you die, that's it. No more you and me. No more us. I'll _never_ see you again."

Pip began to gradually understand. And the more he did, the more upset he began to feel.

"And I'll never forget you, Pip. And everyday of the rest of my eternal life I'll be thinking of you and missing you and fighting to get you back, no matter how pointless I _know_ it would be."

"Then… then I repent God," Pip cried as he stood from the bed and stepped closer to Damien, "I repent God! And I'm selling my soul to you!"

Damien blinked, "What?"

"I'm selling my soul to you. If people can sell their souls to your father then I can sell my soul to you. So I have. I'll never leave you Damien."

Tears started to spill from Pip's eyes and his words were caught in his throat. As he forced them out, the tears were forced out even further.

"I'm yours now Damien. I'll never leave you. I love you."

Damien's cheeks beamed red as his eyes widened. But he quickly shoved away all of his inner questions of doubt mixed with belief and rushed to Pip's aid, wrapping his arms around him and embracing him tight and firm.

Pip continued to sob against his body, drowning within the warmth that was Damien's gentle touch. Damien hushed the boy, tracing his fingers through Pip's smooth hair. Pip clung desperately onto his jumper. Needily. Damien needed to smile, but his heart stung too much from seeing Pip like this.

"Please don't cry, Pip…" he whispered, "Please."

Pip proceeded to wipe his eyes dry, only really causing the rest of his face to become wet with tears. He pulled back from Damien, rubbing his right eye in embarrassment.

"You can't sell your soul to me, Pip."

Pip looked up at him confused, "I-I can't?"

He felt his heart sink slightly. It seemed to him that Damien was rejecting their only chance of ever being together as though he didn't want that chance at all. Either that or it was just impossible.

"Of course not. You can't sell anything for nothing. What's your price?"

Pip blinked, "What do you mean?"

"Well most people sell their souls to my dad for a packet of Jelly Tots or a £10 voucher for Marks & Spencer," Damien laughed, "but your soul is far more valuable than that. So I'll tell you what," he drew in closer to Pip, his dangerous eyes turning sweet and flattering, "I'll take your soul in exchange for… my heart."

Pip's cheeks flushed red for the umpteenth time in a row and he stepped back unsurely, "Y-yo-your heart? But Damien-"

"But you love me," Damien smiled, content knowing that the words were true, and he moved in closer still, "and I love you."

Pip's heart quickened its pace, pounding vigorously on his ribs to be let out of its cage, but jumping with joy at the same time. He found himself completely awestruck, unable to even get his mind around what was just said and his tongue tied a knot in his throat so he was unable to form any sort of coherent sentence. But before he could even try either option, he was pulled against Damien's body and he suddenly felt Damien's tongue slip into his mouth.

Pip melted immediately, moaning softly into Damien's mouth as he went weak in the knees. And only then did his brain kick into gear, because he realised that he enjoyed this kiss more than the others. Because this time he knew _exactly_ what it meant.


End file.
